Eye of the Tiger (Issue 7, Volume 13) by Eye of the Tiger

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Special Olympics gives four RHS students place to be comfortable, loved

Eye of the Tiger board: Lack of student-felt challenge alarming

Selma tackles, honors, humanizes history of 1960s Civil Rights Movement

Tigers step up game to fill Crouch, Delgado, Modeste injury holes

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EYE OF THE TIGER Roseville High School’s student-produced publication

www.eyeofthetigernews.com

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1 Tiger Way, Roseville, CA

JANUARY 26, 2015 | ISSUE 7, VOLUME 13

Student search policy murky This article is the second of a two-part series. See eyeofthetigernews.com for the first installment, published Dec. 15 (‘Admin uses social media to monitor, indict students’). BY MADIE WHALEN

m.whalen@eyeofthetigernews.com

Roseville High School administrators may be trespassing against some students’ stateprotected rights, Eye of the Tiger found during an investigation of administrative monitoring of student social media. These rights include those to deny re-

quests for unreasonable body and property (including cell phones) searches and to avoid self-incrimination by doing so. The issue largely centers around RHS administrators’ interpretation of the concept of “reasonable suspicion,” which harkens back to the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against “unreasonable searches and seizures” and was upheld in the school setting by the Supreme Court of California in 1985 in People v. William G. Last November, RHS sophomore Jesse Garcia was accused of selling drugs on campus by assistant principal Jon Coleman. While

he was walking back from the bathroom to his second-period class, Garcia was stopped by two campus monitors, who searched him and his backpack and sent him up to the office. When he got there, youth service officer Carlos Cortes conducted another search of his person before sending him to Coleman’s office, where Cortes sat in as Coleman accused Garcia of the crime. According to Garcia, the campus monitors took his phone during their search, and Coleman told him his number appeared in phones  RIGHTS | Page 3

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Though youth service officer Carlos Cortes (above) has the right to search students based on “probable cause,” the application of the loosely defined legal concept to RHS students isn’t always clear.

Soccer may face switch SJS to consider winter season for both genders BY MARINA EFSTATHIU & MIKAYLA STEARNS sports@eyeofthetigernews.com

Both boys and girls soccer seasons will be moved to the winter, if a new proposal being considered by the Sac-Joaquin Section is adopted. If passed, the new schedule would take effect for the 2016-2017 season. According to SJS commissioner Michael Garrison, the decision – which we be determined in April – could go either way since the committee is split fairly evenly on the matter. Roseville High School will consult with administration and school coaches before deciding their stance on the subject. “When we talk about it, we will include the coaches to get their opinion.” assistant principal in charge of athletics Jason Wilson said. According to Wilson, the school wants to make sure they think about all the options, because this change would make a huge impact on the school.

LEAD THE WAY

 SOCCER | Page 11

Engineering, biomedical programs coming to RHS BY GEORGE HUGHES

g.hughes@eyeofthetigernews.com

n the spring term of next year, Roseville High School will implement a new program centered on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curricula, called Project Lead The Way. These classes will be available to sophomores, juniors and seniors as elective classes. PLTW offers three branches of learning at the high school level: Engineering, Biomedical Science and Computer Science. Each

branch is taught at a beginner level, an intermediate level and an advanced level. RHS science teachers John Fuller and Erin Granucci will teach two of these three branches at RHS next year. Fuller will manage a beginner’s level engineering class and Granucci will manage a beginner’s level biomedical class. Each of these classes will involve many  PLTW | Page 2

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Above, Antelope High School students work in their Project Lead The Way Engineering (top) and Biomedical Sciences classes. RHS science teachers John Fuller and Erin Granucci will introduce both courses at RHS next year.

School to make use of EOS data

Survey results show gaps to be smaller than expected BY SEIÉNNA PAPINI

s.papini@eyeofthetigernews.com

Local officers to crack down Extra enforcement on permit parking begins next week BY SAM MAILEY

s.mailey@eyeofthetigernews.com

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Starting next week, students and parents who park and idle illegally in designated areas around Roseville High School without permits will be subject to a renewed crackdown by the Roseville Police Department. This effort comes after a spike of complaints from local residents and will affect students who park during school and parents who park in permit areas while they wait to pick up their students. The areas affected

include those along Campo St., Alta Vista Drive and surrounding streets, as well as the staff parking lot. Youth service officer Carlos Cortes announced the effort last week in an email to RHS staff. He said most of the complaints have come from residents in the neighborhoods surrounding RHS during the heavy traffic times just before and after school. Cortes believes the size of the current freshman class – which is the largest in RHS’ history – has contributed to the increase in complaints. “The majority of the complaints this year have come because, obviously, there’s more  PARKING | Page 2

After identifying the gap between students of varying economic and ethnic backgrounds, Roseville Joint Union High School District – in partnership with Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) – hopes to move forward in their plan to eliminate the difference. Last semester, EOS helped administer a survey at Roseville High School to all administrators, 96 percent of staff members and 91 percent of students. This survey was then used to get a grasp on what exactly the students think about the AP courses at RHS, as well as to offer insight as to why some students were not taking AP courses. After examining the EOS data, RHS admin learned that the gap was not as significant as they thought.  EOS | Page 3

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Eye of the Tiger ROSEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL 1 TIGER WAY ROSEVILLE, CA 95678 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Robbie Short NEWS EDITOR Isabel Fajardo FEATURES EDITOR Marian Abdelmalek OPINION EDITOR Olivia Hillman ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Marc Chappelle SPORTS EDITOR Nick Espino Daniel Ryan COPY EDITOR Rachel Barber Mikayla Stearns ONLINE EDITOR Awfa Al-Rakabi Marc Chappelle ESPAñOL EDITOR Elizabeth Morin BUSINESS MANAGER Grant Esparza FACULTY ADVISER Bobby Ritter

STAFF WRITERS Ryan Andrada Logan Ash Catherine Barber Amran Bisla Chase Blatnick Matt Brackmann Joslyn Carrell Marina Efstathiu Adam Erickson Luz Flores Haley Guardino Eve Hill George Hughes Michelle Im Brad James Delphine Kyubwa Lauren Leal Max Modeste Sophia Mogannam Devin Orr Netzy Ortega Seiénna Papini Carlie Reader Cesar Sanchez Nick Sapp Haylee Sex Andrew Smith Arturo Sotomayor Madie Whalen

january 26, 2015

RHS admin to continue rally, redesigned first-day schedule by MICHELLE IM

m.im@eyeofthetigernews.com

Though Roseville High School administrators have yet to finalize a decision, they plan to continue this year’s first day schedule during the 2015-16 year after receiving positive feedback from staff and students. Staff member and Student Activities Director Lindsey Parker and her Student Government classes worked over summer and winter break in order to organize this new start to the school semesters. Although RHS held no meeting to discuss the turnout of the spring term’s start, RHS principal David Byrd received good feedback from the first day in the fall term from staff and students and will continue it for the other semesters as well. Other schools in the Roseville Joint Union High School District also consider RHS’ first day of school schedule for their own campuses. While Granite Bay High School

usually hosts a rally on their first day of the semester, they consider ramping up their first day to look similar to RHS’. GBHS’ activities director Tamara Givens hopes that her students respond positively to the possible idea. “It should be a great way to kick off the new school year in a positive way,” Givens said. “They should be able to feel connected and excited about the year on the first day of school. I think, too, they will like having shorter classes. I’m hoping that it will build a sense of community on campus that we don’t get until the end of the day with our traditional rally.” Senior Jameson Plaskett, in particular, believes that students are also enjoying the first days of the semesters. According to Plaskett, who made the video shown at the Back to School Rally on Jan. 6, students responded well to the video, and he hopes Student Government will continue showing these types of videos.

“I have a couple people in Student Government right now that are learning to make and want to continue to make those videos,” Plaskett said. Parker wishes to improve upon the new first day schedule as well. “There are definitely improvements to be made,” Parker said. “I know the schedules weren’t perfect. I know that everyone got their schedules in 20 minutes, but it was a crunch, so thats something we’ll change for [the upcoming] time.” Both Parker and Byrd welcome future first day plans as a schoolwide effort. “As I said before, there are definitely improvements to be made, but if the concept is if we get together as a school at the beginning of every term [and] remember what it means to be a Roseville Tiger [and] remember what our goals are [and] celebrate our successes - if that’s the purpose of these first days, then I think that they serve their purpose,” Parker said.

POWDERPUFF UPDATE

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

CONTRIBUTING CARTOONIST Catherine Barber

The mission of Eye of the Tiger, a news-gathering organization run by Roseville High School students, is to inform, entertain and serve as a public forum for student expression. We will accomplish our goals by reporting unbiased news while offering student perspectives in our columns and editorials. This includes, but is not limited to, prominent issues, changes and events that have an impact on the students and communities of Roseville High School. We will strive to report with depth, accuracy and timeliness. It is not our goal to evoke controversy or sensationalize issues. We do not push moral values or political agendas. Views expressed in the opinion and entertainment sections, columns and letters-to-the-editor are those of the individual author, and do not necessarily belong to Eye of the Tiger staff, this publication or Roseville High School. All letters-to-the-editor must be signed and are subject to review by the editorial board before inclusion in the newspaper. We reserve the right to edit submitted work as needed for space limitations and content. Nonattributed editorials reflect the opinion of the staff and must be approved by the entire editorial board.

Comments? Criticism? Story idea? We want to hear it. Write to us at info@eyeofthetigernews.com

PARKING: Effort driven by resident complaints

FILE PHOTO MADISON MACHA

Due to the RHS varsity football playoff run and the uncertainty it held, the annual Powderpuff game was rescheduled to take place sometime in March. Though there are no definite plans, Powderpuff organizer Josh Errecart is certain the game will happen. According to Errecart, it was safer to push the game back, instead of planning and potentially cancelling it if the team ended up with a long playoff run. This year, the event may pair with the Battle of the Sexes rally. The tentative plan is to have the rally during school and then the games that night. The games will be played as usual: tournament style, singlegame elimination with seniors facing the freshmen and juniors facing the sophomores in the first round. The two winning teams will then compete for the Powderpuff title.

freshmen this year and they’re being picked up and dropped off,” Cortes said. Though the permit laws aren’t new, staffing shortages meant RPD officers haven’t been able to patrol the area as often as the department would like. The renewed patrol comes as a result of the City of Roseville asking the RPD to enforce the law around RHS. Cortes suggests students and parents use the streets around Woodbridge Park to avoid being cited. “Woodbridge Park isn’t that far,” Cortes said. “There’s so much parking at Woodbridge Park, and nobody uses it.” However, RHS sophomore Kayla Kwong, doesn’t see the cars as an inconvenience. “I don’t get what the big deal is, if parents are in their cars and can move if they need to,” Kwong said. “They are not parking and leaving their cars. My mom picks [me] up from there because it’s

MAJOR AREAS AFFECTED  Campo Street  Alta Vista Drive  Las Flores Avenue  Sierra Boulevard Coronado Boulevard   Staff parking lot

one of the places to pick [me] up and it’s convenient.” Sophomore Sarah Melchner is hesitant about the suggested relocation. “[My parents] pick me up [at the permitted spots], because there’s less traffic than on the other side of the school, and it’s easier to get home that way,” Melchner said. “I don’t think it’s too difficult to get picked up [at Woodbridge Park], but I think it will get crowded.” Kwong also agrees, believing that the traffic will migrate to the park. “Woodbridge Park is not that far, but if everyone is going to be pick[ed] up there, then it’s going to be just like Alta Vista [and] Campo,” Kwong said.

PLTW: Program offers hands-on approach to STEM

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

labs where students will be graded based on how they perform. According to Fuller, in the engineering class, the students will use different computer programs to build simulations of a variety of different things. He also mentioned activities involving students programming robots to complete certain jobs. “[Students] will be doing things like robotics and other task-oriented projects,” Fuller said. “It is all project based. There is no direct instruction and there is no note-taking.” According to Granucci, the biomedical class is like a combination of physiology and biology, but with more labs and hands-on activities. “We do a lot of the biomedical stuff in our physiology class, but [the program] just had a lot more things like stem cell research that kids can do in high school, diagnosing scenarios and really making the content applicable to everyday stuff,” Granucci said. To become certified to teach these courses, the two teachers will attend and complete a two week training course for their specific branch over this coming summer. This will give them time in the fall semester to prepare to begin the class the following term in the spring.

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Though Antelope is currently the only high school in the district to have the Project Lead The Way program, if all goes to plan, RHS sophomores, juniors and seniors should have access to it beginning next year. RHS’ goal is to eventually offer all levels of each strand to students and make it possible for them to go through an entire branch and complete the advanced class at the end. RHS principal David Byrd is excited to bring PLTW to the school because of the career opportunities it creates after high school for students who participate. “I am excited for the students,” Byrd said. “Project Lead The Way is innovative in the science, technology, engineering and math

fields. It has a great track record for stimulating and engaging project based learning that can better guide students towards careers in STEM.” As of now, Antelope is the only school in the Roseville Joint Union High School District to offer PLTW classes, and is recognized as one of the nation’s model PLTW schools. AHS principal John Becker said that the PLTW courses offered at the school have taught students many useful skills which they can use both in school and also in their future careers.

According to Becker, PLTW helped his school in various ways, and believes it will also greatly benefit RHS. He also believes that RHS can benefit in a number different ways from PLTW. “Students will immediately fall in love with the hands-on, creative aspect of PLTW,” Becker said. “All types of students can be successful in PLTW. ” According to Granucci, many colleges nationwide recognize PLTW as a highly respected organization in many high schools that prepares its participants and

students for their lives and careers. This organization provides schools and students with more project and task based learning to solve problems that they might encounter in a multitude of situations later on in life. “Project Lead The Way has given students a rigorous yet creative outlet to learn problem solving, team building and analytical skills,” Becker said. “For many students, this is the classroom they thrive in because they are 100-percent interested in what they are doing. They become motivated to create new ideas, and ultimately become inspired to go down a career path in engineering, science or computers.” According to Byrd, the biggest obstacle that RHS has to overcome is funding. He said that the training that the teachers require to teach the courses can be expensive, and so are all of the materials necessary for each class. These classes require significantly more materials than others due to the amount of projectbased work that students will be doing. Still, Byrd said that the expenses will not stop RHS from following through with its plan to have both classes ready by next spring. “There are some financial costs,” Byrd said. “But, we don’t want to let money get in the way of a good idea.”

news | page 3

january 26, 2015

Sac State, Sierra progress on joint satellite campus by RACHEL BARBER

r.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

As of late December of 2014, Sacramento State University and Sierra College are moving forward on their decision to create a satellite campus in Placer County. At the satellite campus, Sierra College would offer courses that would fulfill the requirements needed for the first two years of college. Sierra and Sac State will also work together to determine which courses to offer at the future campus. In addition to Sierra, other local colleges will be able to use the facilities, such as Brandman University, University of the Pacific and William Jessup University. Westpark Communities donated 300 acres worth of Placer Ranch property just north of the Roseville City line, near Foothill Boulevard, where the actual construction of the campus will take place. This construction is planned to begin about in about two to three years.

The initial idea came up in conversation between Sierra College president Willy Duncan and Sacramento State president Alexander Gonzalez. “I know that Sac State wanted to grow its campus, and the developer of Placer Ranch wanted their school’s presence on their property,” Duncan said. According to Duncan, most Sierra College students plan to eventually attend Sac State, so the collaborative project aids those students and creates a more convenient path for them to take. “The top destination for Sierra College students is Sacramento State,” Jeff Jones, chief operating officer of Westpark Communities, said in a released statement. “By Sacramento State and Sierra College working together, the community will benefit through a more accessible and integrated higher education system.” RHS principal David Byrd is excited about the project due to the promotion of education in the local community, as well as the

COURTESY WESTPARK COMMUNITIES

California State University Sacramento and Sierra College in Rocklin are currently working to further their plan to build a joint satellite campus in west Roseville. Sierra plans to offer courses to meet that meet the general ed requirements most students fulfill within their first two years and Sac State hopes to offer the higher-level courses they will take later on. easy access to college courses for students. “I think it will increase the overall buzz about college and will create some unique opportunities for Roseville to partner with

another college in our own backyard,” Byrd said. According to Duncan, currently, about 6,000 students community from Placer County to attend Sac State.

RHS counselor Gracie Fernandez believes that the location of the new campus increases the likelihood high school students taking college courses. “Students may not want to drive

to the next town over, but since it’s in their backyard they might be like, ‘I actually do wanna go take some classes,’” Fernandez said. According to Duncan, the satellite campus could potentially branch off completely from both schools and become its own California State College. “I’m really excited about the opportunity to work with Sac State and make something great for our students,” Duncan said. Although students of RHS may be more motivated to attend school because of the closer location, Byrd believes it most likely will not affect the amount of students wanting to go to Sac State specifically, rather than other schools. “If they wanted to go to schools outside the area, they will probably still go,” Byrd said. “If they want to go to Sac State, this just makes their commute more convenient. I love the idea, but the details of how they execute the idea are always important.”

EOS: District leaders aspire to go beyond closing student gaps CONTINUED FROM FRONT

“We found that our so-called ‘gap’ is a very narrow gap,” RHS principal David Byrd said. “We were applauded somewhat for that. We seem to be doing a good job at a lot of the things that EOS will come in and suggest that we do.” According to the EOS data, to match the diversity in RHS to the diversity of students enrolled in AP courses, RHS only needs to recruit only 23 low income White/Asian students and 23 low income Hispanic/Latino students. To set a standard, RHS used “benchmark students,” as well as “underrepresented students.” Benchmark students are White/ Asian and medium to high income students. They are also, statistically, the students most likely to take AP courses offered and feel welcomed in such an environment. RHS’ underrepresented students include Hispanic/Latino, AfricanAmerican and other ethnicities, as well as low income students. In contrast to the benchmark students, the underrepresented students are, statistically, less likely to take AP courses in the course of their four-year high

COURTESY EQUAL OPPORTUNITY SCHOOLS

school career. “EOS looks at this and says, ‘That’s good [that we have a large number of students taking AP courses], but theoretically, all demographic groups – ethnic or economic – ought to be able to match the same number, the same percentage, the same ratio as your highest performing or your highest recruited benchmark students,’” Byrd said. After analyzing the data, EOS moved forward into the “recruitment phase,” utilizing part of the survey to figure out why some underrepresented students don’t take AP courses. The most common responses received, according to the survey,

were either that the student didn’t feel like they could get a good grade, or they thought that an AP class would be too much work. As a response to this information, RHS consulted with EOS, and received several different approaches to address and close the gap. One of these ways, Byrd says, is to increase the amount of encouragement students receive from adults that they trust, whether that be administrators, their counselor, their parents or a favorite teacher, dubbed as “oneon-one outreach.” Superintendent of the RJUHSD Ron Severson encourages this one-on-one outreach.

“You may have students that still do not believe that they can handle taking an AP course, but you also will have students that start to believe that they are capable of taking on this challenge,” Severson said. According to Severson, they are looking to pair each underrepresented student that has expressed interest in taking an AP course with an adult on campus that believes in the potential of success in that particular student. RHS administration is also taking the approach of sending personal letters home to let parents, as well as students, know that they were identified as a student that could very well succeed in an AP course. They also encourage the parents to talk to their child in a positive manner about taking an AP class. RHS is also looking to reach out to parents more in the future about AP classes. RHS will be holding an AP informational night in the near future, in hopes to educate parents on the “open AP enrollment policy.” Both Severson and Byrd believe RHS’ that this policy is a huge step already taken to be an exemplary, equitable school. “We have an open philosophy,”

Byrd said. “If you want to take AP, we are never going to say, ‘No, you’re not good enough.’ We are going to say, ‘Come on in.’” However, finding the 46 students that are contributing to the gap in AP enrollment and encouraging them to enroll is not Byrd’s concern. He wants to aim higher than merely “closing the gap.” In addition to increasing the number of students enrolled in AP courses, RHS wants to make sure that students are successful, yet still be challenged in those classes, as opposed to enrolling in the class and struggling so much so that they do not benefit from the class. “The next thing is – if we go out and recruit a bunch of kids and their confidence is, ‘Hey, I can do this’ and then they get in and they go, “Oh my gosh, this is really hard,” and they’re ‘sinking’ a little bit, we, as a school, need to be prepared to jump in and help them swim a little bit,” Byrd said. “We need to be there for them.” However, an influx of students taking AP would raise some concerns for RHS, but Byrd says they are “good problems to have.” One of these “problems” would be finding more teachers to teach

AP courses. AP US History teacher Jessica Fork sees the possible influx of students taking AP courses as not much of a problem either. “The impact is that I would have more students taking my class that need to work on their study skills, which is not a bad thing,” Fork said. “It would just mean me working with them to develop those skills that important in any AP class.” Severson also believes wholeheartedly that students who take even one AP class in their high school career are not only more likely to attend college, but also to succeed in college classes. “I think the EOS program is a great way to make the school look at the things we’re doing and what we could be doing,” Fork said. “But, I think RHS already does such a great job at trying to get students to take AP class and I think it shows.” Byrd hopes to never be complacent with closing the gap that we do have right now, but to strive for endless improvement. “This isn’t about hitting the magic ‘equal number,’ this is about promoting enrollment in AP classes as a whole,” Byrd said. “To everyone.”

RIGHTS: Interpretations of ‘reasonable suspicion’ differ CONTINUED FROM FRONT

to accuse Garcia of selling drugs on campus, according to Garcia. Garcia also claimed that Cortes threatened to arrest him while Coleman questioned him about the allegations. Garcia denied Coleman’s claims and refused when Coleman asked to search his phone. “I just told him that it’s really stupid to do drugs at school,” Garcia said. “I mean, you must be a [fool] to bring drugs to school.” Though Coleman gave him his phone back – “there wasn’t a reason for him to go through it,” Garcia said – the interrogation, as well as the twice-a-week drug searches Garcia is subject to, represent a breach of his privacy rights as a student, according to Student Press Law Center attorney Adam Goldstein. Goldstein, who works out of the SPLC’s center in Arlington, Virginia, says that, though it’s true school officials only need reasonable suspicion – and not consent – to conduct a student search, school officers like Cortes are bound by the tighter concept of “probable cause” to search for anything other than weapons which would compromise their own safety. The difference between the two

is that reasonable suspicion requires, according to the Supreme Court’s 1968 Terry v. Ohio ruling, “specific and articulable facts … taken together with rational inferences from those facts” that would cause a reasonable person to suspect someone of a crime, whereas probable cause requires enough evidence to actually secure a warrant. Probable cause is a stronger legal standard of proof than reasonable suspicion, and grants law enforcement officers and school administrators a greater amount of liberty in their searches of suspected criminals. According to Goldstein, though Coleman’s search of Garcia may have fallen within the rule of law, Cortes’ presence during it definitely wasn’t justified. “You don’t get an end runaround around the Miranda [Rights] by sitting a student down and having someone else ask the questions and saying, ‘Aha, you’re under arrest,’” Goldstein said. The Miranda Rights comprise a right to silence warning all US law enforcement officers are supposed to deliver to suspects facing questioning. Garcia claims Cortes did not tell him of them before Coleman began his questioning. Cortes, however, argues that

such searches and questioning are well within state law – and good judgement. “Students have more rights off campus than they do on campus, and the reason for the less rights you have on campus is because we error on the side of safety,” Cortes said. However, Goldstein isn’t sure Coleman was operating within his rights, either. He doesn’t think the evidence he had against Garcia – namely, his “suspicious” tweets and a record of contact between him and other students accused of similar crimes, as well as a history of disciplinary issues – was legally enough to warrant a search. “When you’re talking about threatening people with discipline over their Twitter posts, what’s the reasonable suspicion?,” Goldstein said. “I have reasonable suspicion that what? What crime are you going to commit with Twitter?” Coleman insists his actions are in students’ best interests. Though RHS and Roseville Joint Union High School District policy regarding reasonable suspicion is somewhat loosely defined – Cortes, Coleman and Brad Basham, RJUHSD executive director of personnel services, all commented on how search procedure varies from case to case and

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Sophomore Jesse Garcia (above) was accused of selling drugs last November and questioned by assistant principal Jon Coleman in front of youth service officer Cortes without being informed of his Miranda Rights to silence. Though Coleman and Cortes claim they are right in questioning procedures like that one, a Student Press Law Center attorney disagrees. individual to individual – Garcia believes RHS administrators treat him differently because of his past behavior violations. He’s been in two fights this school year. He was suspended for one of them. “They think I’m a troublemaker,” Garcia said. Though considering a person’s past actions isn’t technically illegal in determining reasonable suspicion – and is consistent with the school’s policy of looking at

the credibility of the person being accused and acting accordingly, Coleman said – Garcia, as well as sophomore Austin Ghent, who faced similar treatment after he retweeted a picture of a gun, feel Coleman’s actions cross the line. “They’re just trying to find [expletive] they can use against me,” Ghent said. “They’re looking for more reasons to get me into trouble than to keep me out of trouble.”

Garcia even considered transferring to Independence High School to get away from the treatment he calls harassment. He eventually decided to stay, though, citing a desire to not “want to have Coleman affect [his] education.” “I can’t do anything without them on my back,” Garcia said. “I want to be able to wake up and feel like today’s another day that I won’t have to worry about being arrested.”

el 26 de enero de 2015

NOTICIAS Sierra y la Universidad Estatal de Sac expanden POR RACHEL BARBER

r.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

Al final de diciembre de 2014, la Universidad Estatal de Sacramento y Sierra College se están moviendo hacia adelante con su decisión de crear un campus satélite en el Condado de Placer. En el campus de satélite, Sierra College ofrecerá cursos que cumplen con los requisitos necesarios para los dos primeros años de universidad. Sierra y Sac Estado también trabajarán juntos para determinar los cursos que ofrecerán en el campus de futuro. Además de Sierra, otras universidades locales podrán utilizar las

instalaciones, como la Universidad Brandman, Universidad del Pacífico y la Universidad William Jessup. Comunidades de Westpark donó 300 hectáreas por un valor de la propiedad de Placer Ranch justo al norte de la línea de la Ciudad de Roseville, cerca de Foothills Bulevar, donde la construcción real del campus se llevará a cabo. Esta construcción está prevista para comenzar en alrededor de dos a tres años. RHS director David Byrd está muy entusiasmado con el proyecto debido a la promoción de la educación en la comunidad local, así como el fácil acceso a los cursos de la universidad para los estudiantes.

La política de búsquedas de estudiantes no es claramente definida POR MADIE WHALEN

m.whalen@eyeofthetigernews.com

Administradores de la escuela secundaria de Roseville pueden que violen los derechos protegidos por el estado de algunos alumnos, Eye of the Tiger encontró durante una investigación de seguimiento administrativo de las redes sociales de estudiantes. Estos derechos incluyen aquellos que niegan las solicitudes de cuerpo irrazonable y la propiedad (incluyendo móviles) búsquedas y evitar la autoincriminación por hacerlo. La cuestión se centra en gran medida en torno

a la interpretación de RHS administradores del concepto de “sospecha razonable”, que se remonta a de la Cuarta Enmienda garantía contra “registros e incautaciones irrazonables” y fue confirmada en la escuela por la Corte Suprema de California en 1985 en People v. William G. Aunque la política de respecto sospecha razonable de RHS y el distrito es algo vagamente definido - Cortes, Coleman y Brad Basham, director ejecutivo RJUHSD de servicios de personal, todos comentaron lo procedimiento de búsqueda varía.

Español Clases nuevos a RHS

RHS usará datos de EOS

POR GEORGE HUGHES

POR SEIÉNNA PAPINI

En el semestre de primavera del próximo año, un nuevo programa centrado en STEM (Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas) los planes de estudio llamado Project Lead The Way (PLTW) será implementado en la escuela secundaria de Roseville como una clase electiva que será disponible a estudiantes del segundo, tercer y cuarto año. Muchas universidades en todo el país reconocen PLTW como una organización altamente respetada en muchas escuelas secundarias que prepara a sus participantes y los estudiantes para sus vidas y carreras. PLTW ofrece tres ramas del aprendizaje en el nivel de la escuela secundaria: Ingeniería, Ciencias Biomédicas y Ciencias de la Computación. Cada rama se le enseña a un nivel principiante, un nivel intermedio y un nivel avanzado. Profesores de ciencias RHS John Fuller y Erin Granucci serán los profesores encargados de la enseñanza de dos de estas tres ramas en RHS próximo año. Fuller gestionará clase de ingeniería de nivel de principiante y Granucci gestionará clase biomédica nivel de principiante. RHS director David Byrd tiene ganas de traer PLTW a la escuela debido a las oportunidades

Después de identificar la brecha entre los estudiantes de diferentes niveles económicos y étnicos, el distrito - en sociedad con igualdad de Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) - espera avanzar en su plan para eliminar la diferencia. El semestre pasado, EOS ayudó a administrar una encuesta en RHS para los administradores, miembros del personal y estudiantes. Según los datos de EOS, para que coincida con la diversidad en RHS a la diversidad de alumnos matriculados en los cursos AP, RHS sólo necesita reclutar sólo 23 blancos / asiáticos de bajos ingresos y 23 estudiantes hispanos / latinos de bajos ingresos. Administración RHS también está tomando el enfoque de enviar cartas personales a casa para que los padres, así como estudiantes, saben que se identificaron como un estudiante que muy bien podría tener éxito en un curso AP. También esperan dejar que los padres saben que van a estar hablando con sus estudiantes para alentarlos a tomar una clase de AP y también, animar a los padres a hablar con sus hijos de una manera positiva acerca de tomar una clase de AP. RHS será la celebración de un AP noche informativa en un futuro próximo, con la esperanza de educar a los padres sobre la “política abierta la inscripción AP.”

Jones sigue los pasos de su bisabuelo

Estudiantes participan en los Olimpiadas Especiales

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pÁgina 4

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NOTICIAS

REPORTAJES El club de robótica muestra su crecimiento bolas y luego mover los y poner los en un bin. Los jueces luego va a anotar en base al cuaderno boceto de su robot y la actuación de ese día. Los más primos que ganas más posibilidades tiene para ganarlo todo. El concurso está dirigido a través de la FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). En noviembre, el club compitió en el torneo de Oak Ridge y no hicieron bien. Agarraron 24 lugar de 28 equipos. “Hemos aprendido mucho y ganamos mucha experiencia de ese torneo,” dijo Carlson. “Si nosotros no fuéramos allí, nos lo hemos tenido los mismos problemas de Oak Ridge.” El próximo torneo va hacer la NorCal Regional campeonatos en el 8 de Febrero donde se enfrentará a los mejores equipos en el norte de California. Entre ahora y a esa hora, el equipo dedicará la mayoría del tiempo de sus prácticas a mejorando sus habilidades. Eventualmente, el club quiere involucrarse en la comunidad màs en lo que está haciendo.

POR CATHERINE BARBER

POR SOPHIA MOGANNAM

Uno de los mayores logros para un jugador de tenis competitivo es tener la oportunidad de competir en el US Open, un logro que el bisabuelo de estudiante de segundo año Andrew Jones alcanzó cuando tenía 19 años. Aunque su bisabuelo no llegó a las últimas etapas de la competencia, Jones todavía due inspirado seguir en sus pasos. La experiencia que Jones ha tenido en el béisbol le ayudó a hacer la transición a tenis. El estilo de Jones de jugar es único para el deporte. A diferencia de muchos tenistas, Jones no golpea con un revés , que en su lugar utiliza ambas manos para golpear, al igual que su bisabuelo . Con trabajo duro y determinación Jones espera convertirse en un mejor jugador de tenis y espera conseguir una beca universitaria para el deporte. En cuanto a su carrera, él espera hacer una vida como tenista profesional como su bisabuelo.

Estudiantes de segundo año Shannon Owen, Declan Huerta y Jasmine Pequeño-Mionske junto con la alta Dani Coulter son alentados por los aplausos de sus seres queridos para seguir jugando. Los cuatro estudiantes participan en Olimpiadas Especiales, y tienen la oportunidad de competir en diferentes deportes y conocer a gente nueva. Los participantes son capaces de competir en los deportes como los bolos, softbol, atletismo, tenis, fútbol, natación y baloncesto que van todo el año. Estudiante del último año Dani Coulter participa en la mayoría de los deportes disponibles, pero una de las cosas más emocionantes para ella es la sensación que recibe de correr las bases durante un partido de softball. Poco-Mionske ha estado participando en las Olimpiadas Especiales desde que era pequeña. Aunque porción ha sido un obstáculo, a veces, se siente el apoyo de sus padres.

Baloncesto varsity chicas

Equipo de lucha

Baloncesto varsity chicos sufren debido a heridas

POR LOGAN ASH

POR GEORGE HUGHES

POR BRAD JAMES

El equipo varsity de baloncesto está alcanzando el medio punto de camino, queriendo a llegar a las post-temporadas. Según entrenador Josh Errecart las escuelas Antelope y Whitney van a agarrar primer y segundo lugar y Bella Vista, Ponderosa, Consumnes Oaks y Roseville van a competir por los dos últimos lugares. Entrando al Central Valley Conference ha traído muchos cambios differentes que están muy difícil para el equipo. En los primeros cinco juegos de la liga las muchachas han jugado muy bien. Siguiendo los pasos del equipo de baloncesto de los muchachos, Errecart ha agarrado tres estudiantes de su segundo años intentar solidificar la línea. Él cree que los jugadores han cambiado y ayudado. Con los tres estudiantes de segundo año son capaces de ejecutar un doble delito de armador para poder utilizar el potencial de McKay y de Rubey. Hay un grande posibilidad que nuestro equipo de mujeres basquetbol pueden llegar a las posttemporadas.

La temporada del equipo de lucha de la escuela secundaria de Roseville es sólo dos encuentros de distancia de la postemporada; su próximo encuentro es contra Ponderosa y el último es contra Cosumnes Oaks. El entrenador Doug Ash predice que el equipo va a terminar en algún lugar en el medio de la tabla de posiciones de la CVC, pero todo va a depender de cómo el equipo lleva a cabo durante la próxima semana. Según Ash, Los Tigres tendrán que poner en un gran rendimiento para derribar el invicto escuela secundaria de Ponderosa. Ash siente que el equipo tiene una buena oportunidad de vencer a Cosumnes Oaks, pero el resultado se basará principalmente en la salud de los luchadores. Después de los dos últimos encuentros, el equipo albergará el Campeonato del Torneo CVC en RHS el 14 de febrero. Luchadores del equipo varsity son capaces de avanzar al torneo Divisional en la escuela de Benicia el 20 al 21 de febrero. Si lo hacen bien allí, pueden pasar al Torneo de Maestros en feb 27 a 28, y posiblemente el Torneo Estatal el marzo 6 a 7.

Después de la derrota 85-53 contra el equipo de la escuela secundaria de Antelope el miércoles 14 de enero, el récord del equipo de baloncesto de los muchachos del equipo varsity de la escuela secundaria de Roseville cayó a 5-11, ya que ahora han perdido tres partidos seguidos. Alineación de Antelope aventajó el equipo más inexperto de entrenador Greg Granucci. Estudiante de Antelope de tercer año, Kai Tease, llevó el marcador en el juego, como él decía hasta 33. “Nuestro equipo salió un poco plana en ambos lados de la pelota y no fuimos capaces de recoger las cosas de nuevo una vez que estábamos abajo temprano en el juego,” dijo RHS altos guardia Bryce Crouch. Granucci y el equipo de muchachos del equipo varsity de baloncesto cayó en un récord de 0-6 en la liga viene de una derrota 69-57 a Whitney High School el 21 de enero. Este fue el primer juego de los Tigres han jugado sin el escolta senior y líder anotador, Bryce Crouch. Crouch sufrió una lesión al principio de su pérdida 55-68 a

POR HAYLEE SEX

h.sex@eyeofthetigernews.com

Muchas veces por la semana, nuestra programa de robotics está practicando en el cuarto 804. Está practicando por su próxima competición. El club de RHS robotics empezó en 2013-2014. En su primer año no más fueron a una competición. Estaba muy difícil para encontrar un lugar para practicar pero lo encontraron. Este año, el club ha crecido y ahora tienen dos equipos y 30 miembros, espacio para practicar y $1.000 dolares conceder de una empresa de ingeniería local. En un torneo el equipo de RHS agarró dos premios, y terminó en cuarto lugar en el torneo de el 4 de noviembre y ganó un lugar en el NorCal Regional torneo en la próximo mez. “Hemos performado muy bien, fuimos bien todo y nada sucedió realmente a nuestro robot,” dijo el capitán Kevin Carlson. El Objeto para la competición es el robot necesita a recoger unas

c.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

s.mogannam@eyeofthetigernews.com

DEPORTES l.ash@eyeofthetigernews.com

g.hughes@eyeofthetigernews.com

b.james@eyeofthetigernews.com

la escuela secundaria de Colfax en enero 3. Crouch subió por un balón y cayó torpemente en el rellano, rodando el tobillo y con mayor severidad arrancó múltiples ligamentos en su tobillo. “[Crouch] es uno de nuestros mejores jugadores, si no el mejor, todos estábamos algo molesta con él bajando,” dijo estudiante del último año Jesse Savage. “La gente está intensificando, alguien tiene que anotar y hacer jugadas.” Antes de que comenzara la temporada, regresando jugador del equipo varsity Zach Delgado, también se enfrentó a una lesión en su brazo. Delgado rompió los ligamentos en la muñeca que traen un pronto fin a su último temporada . “La pérdida de Zach y Bryce, esas son dos altos dirigentes que tienen mayor experiencia del equipo varsity por lo que duele, no hay duda de ello, pero tenemos bastantes chicos y suficiente talento en nuestro equipo para seguir compitiendo y espero ganar algunos juegos, así que tenemos al paso arriba,” dijo el entrenador Granucci. A pesar de su herida, Crouch continuó jugar y el equipo perdió cuatro veces más.

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Los estudiantes por encima son de la escuela secundaria de Antelope, y están arreglando una bicicleta en su clase de ingeniería. El próximo año, RHS ofrecerá clases como las que tiene Antelope.

REPORTAJES

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

El club de robótica ha crecido mucho debido a su expansión de recursos y la cantidad de práctica que ellos hagan. El club ha participado en algunas competiciones y quiere involuvrarse más en la comunidad.

DEPORTES

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Después del pérdida de tres jugadores estrellados, estudiante del último año, Jesse Savage, toma las riendas del equipo varsity del baloncesto. El equipo tiene un récord de 0-6 en la liga CVC.

Baloncesto JV chicos POR CHASE BLATNICK

c.blatnick@eyeofthetigernews.com

Los tigres empezó con una gran pretemporada. Tienen un récord de 10-3. Todos se llevaba n bien en la cancha y en la escuela. Pero el juego de liga no empezó cómo el anticipado. En el primer partido de liga Los Tigres estaban en la escuela secundaria Del Campo. Los Ti-

gres tuvieron algunas buenas oportunidades y hicieron algunos tiros claves y ganaron el partido por un marcador de 46-45. Sin embargo aquel día siguiente en la práctica los Tigres tomaría un duro golpe para su equipo como Cam Anderson se hundió con una lesión en el tobillo mal. Un equipo Consume Oaks muy atlético superó a los Tigres y se los entregó su primera derrota en liga con marcador de 61-49.

Features

january 26, 2015

page 5

Surrounded by a chorus of cheers

Special Olympics provides place of competition, friendship, comfort for four students by marian abdelmalek, marina eFSTATHIU & sophia moganNam

features@eyeofthetigernews.com

Sophomores Declan Huerta, Jasmine Little-Mionske and Shannon Owens, along with senior Dani Coulter, are encouraged by the cheers of their loved ones to keep playing. All four students participate in Special Olympics, getting the chance to compete in different sports and meet new people. They are able to compete in sports such as bowling, softball, track and field, tennis, soccer, swimming, and basketball. Senior Dani Coulter participates in majority of the sports available but one of the most exciting things for her is the feeling she gets from running the bases during a softball game. Coulter’s mother, Rose Coulter, believes that her daughter feels like that she is surrounded with people just like her. “I think it’s helped her realize there’s something different about her,” Rose Coulter said. “It’s also helped her to be a little more understanding about other people’s needs also.” Fellow mother, Mishalinda Little-Mionske also notices the way her daughter feels in the environment during Special Olympics competitions. “[Jasmine] seems to feel in her element,” Little-Mionske said. “She kinda knows there’s somebody just like her, special, even if she doesn’t recognize the disability.” Little-Mionske has been participating in Special Olympics ever since she was young. She mainly enjoys playing tennis and constantly works to perfect her forehand. Although serving has been an obstacle at times, she feels the support of her parents each time they attend a match to

cheer her on. “Sometimes it brings me to tears because she makes me so proud,” Little-Mionske said. “Her dad and I are just so elated with her and her ability to do it.” In addition to her love of tennis, Little-Mionske is incredibly proud of all of her medals that serve as proof of her hard work. “I’ve won silver, gold, and bronze,” Little-Mionske said. Special Needs teacher Chris Balsano believes Special Olympics serves as a positive outlet for students outside of the classroom. “I love that they get involved outside of school and that they don’t just depend on school… and I honestly think it’s the parents who help get them involved,” Balsano said. “There are some really good parents in this program.” Balsano enjoys seeing the constant growth that accompanies her students upon engaging in Special Olympics.Students develop leadership skills and even work up to finding ease while speaking in front of the class. “They participate over the summer and they come back excited to share their medals and ribbons,” Balsano said. Little-Mionske also sees growth in her daughter from participating in Special Olympics. “It’s been a big impact on her social skills and social levels,” Little-Mionske said. “In competitions she’s got to interact with her teammates so that’s probably one of the number one things that’s helped her and impacted her, as well as friendship building and then of course, the skill building of the sport.” Owens has won multiple awards in her favorite event, bowling, including one for second place. She claims that trying out new sports and making new friends is the best part of being a member in Special Olympics.

“I really like it,” Owens said. Just like Owens, Huerta has further bonded with his classmates by playing sports with them. Alongside his friends, he’s taken part in tennis, basketball, swimming, and bowling. He has not only benefitted by making new friends, but he also feels that his coaches have helped him a lot in his times of struggle. Junior Maddy Furdek, who began volunteering with Special Olympics through the National Charity League, has become very moved through her experiences in volunteering for the organization. “I think it helps them because they get to do their own thing so they can try a lot of sports and see what they’re good at,”

Furdek said. “A lot of people are cheering them on in that environment and that really encourages them and boosts their confidence.” According to Little-Mionske, no matter what team the students are competing against, whether from other regions or counties, everyone cheers one another one. Little-Mionske love that it feels like a big, fun sports festival. Rose Coulter feels that Special Olympics is important because it gives the students the feeling of competing and a sense of winning. “Self-esteem is a huge thing for all the athletes,” Rose Coulter said. “It feels good to have people cheering for you all the time.”

COURTESY LISA OWENS

COURTESY ROSE COULTER

Sophomore Shannon Owens plays softball in front of a large supportive crowd (top). Senior Dani Coulter practices for her swim competition (bottom). Special Olympics provides both a chance to play sports year-round with kids from other counties and regions as well as to be cheered on by their loved ones.

Sophomore expresses fandom passion via video Yacht Club Morgan Jamison edits clips from TV shows, movies into musical tributes

by MIKAYLA STEARNS

m.stearns@eyeofthetigernews.com

While some tweet after watching a show’s premiere or search it’s hashtag, sophomore Morgan Jamison turns to video and audio editing to express her appreciation for all sorts of media. Jamison’s Youtube channel, Morgan Fj, is filled with videos of her own creation paying tribute to her favorite things. Clips of Marvel movies, Supernatural and Doctor Who episodes regularly reappear in her works. “I’ll usually see string of videos from, say, a TV show and I’ll go through and take out little tiny segments and then match that to music to make a music video,” Jamison said. Jamison’s channel features music videos, tributes to books, and a few mashups of several different shows, called “Multifandom” videos. One of her most recent posts layers music from both Les Miserables and a trailer for Captain America:Winter Soldier, along with video clips from a total of 18 cited shows and movies. The mood of a show heavily inspires Jamison to start a project. “Mostly, I watch a show and I’m just listening to music where the mood either really fits

something or it captures a scene or theme very well, or it’s an emotional song,” Jamison said. Jamison uses Adobe Premiere Pro, Jamison Adobe Audition, Adobe Photoshop and, sometimes, Adobe After Effects to complete her projects. “[Adobe After Effects] is for special effects,” Jamison said. “I’ve added explosions, lightsabers, blood spatters and created the demon eye effect from Supernatural in this program.” Jamison enjoys creating videos based on more exciting music. “I really like doing action sequences,” Jamison said. “But sometimes it depends on what I’m going for or what the show is about.” One of Jamison’s current projects strays from the action theme. “Currently I’m working on a video to the song ‘Take Me To Church’ by Hozier for the show In The Flesh,” Jamison said. “I’m focusing on the characters’ relationships with each other and their personal battles - less of an action video.” As a friend and viewer of Jamison’s work, freshmen Chloe

by SOPHIA MOGANNAM

s.mogannam@eyeofthetigernews.com

COURTESY MORGAN JAMISON

Jamison uses Adobe After Effects to create special effects for her video projects, which normally center around actionthemed sequences. She is currently working on an emotional, relationship-focused video based on BBC’s In the Flesh. Lavalleur often receives clips of Jamison’s next project. “Almost daily, she’ll send me just like a clip of music she has edited, or say ‘Hey what do you think I should put in as a clip next?’” Lavalleur said. “She’ll ask me for ideas or she’ll send me little bits and pieces of stuff usually.” Jamison keeps viewers’ preferences in mind as she creates and posts videos to her Youtube account. “I’ve put a few on my You-

tube but I don’t normally publish all of them,” Jamison said. “If I like them and I get good feedback from viewers, then yes. But often I’ll get partially through a video and then not want to do it anymore if like, for example, the beat of the song doesn’t vary very much, which is boring for me to make and for a viewer, I would imagine.” Lavalleur admires Jamison’s self-taught skills. “She’s taught some programs to herself and all the skills she

has can be real-life skills, I mean, its pretty amazing to watch her,” Lavalleur said. “It’s definitely something I’m jealous of.” Jamison looks to expand her hobby, but must plan her videos around other elements in her life. “I’m planning on purchasing a green screen to do higher-level VFX,” Jamison said. “[Posting videos] just depends on when I’m done with it. It takes me a while to finish them, depending on how much school work I have, if I’m free, things like that.”

headed to festival by LUZ FLORES

l.flores@eyeofthetigernews.com

Yacht Club will represent Roseville High School at the Lanea Festival at Folsom Lake College on Feb. 7. According to adviser Stuart Smith, The Lanea Festiva is the biggest high school theater festival west of Mississippi, in which students perform and represent their drama programs. The event is spread out over the first weekend of February. Due to the large scale of Lanea, many Yacht Club students will be able to find others who share a common interest. “[Lanea is] always a huge catalyst for when they go,” Smith said. “It’s really catalyzing because students come from thinking ‘Hey we might be weird but there’s a thousand people here like us.’” Twelve RHS students and three alumni will attend. Since Yacht Club is relatively new, co-captains senior Aaron Souza and alumnus Dylan Presti decided to experiment with the club participating in this festival. “It’s a way to expose our school’s talent and expose us to new people,” Presti said. Among the different acts that the members of the club will be performing are live music, improv comedy, sketch comedy and possibly a play.

january 26, 2015

page 6 | features

Robotics Club gears up in search of new success by HAYLEE SEX

h.sex@eyeofthetigernews.com

Several days a week, sometimes for hours at a time, a group of Roseville High School students meet in Room 804 to build, design, test and drive robots. At most practices a 3D printer hums on a table near their driving arena. They use the printer to create new parts for their machines, the arena to refine their maneuvers. The goal here is precision, not brute technological might. They’ll need to be as precise as they can be if they want to be ready for their upcoming competitions. RHS’ Robotics Club formed in the fall of last school year. Though its members were able to field an entry into one local competition, the club struggled to get off the ground and had issues securing funding and practice space. This year, though, the club has grown to include two teams, more than 30 members, a consistent practice space and funding from a $1,000 grant from a local engineering firm. During a qualifying tournament at Oak Ridge High School on Jan. 4, the club’s A team was recognized for two awards, finished fourth place overall and won a seat at next month’s NorCal regional tournament. “We performed really well. We drove everything well and nothing really happened to our robot,” captain Kevin Carlson said. “We did have some things we had to fix, of course, but everything worked out for us … we just looked good to the judges.” The objective during the competition is to collect white balls that are scattered around the arena and drop them into several cylindrical rolling goals. Competitors get points for the number and size of balls they get into the

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Senior Sophia Diaz tests out one of the Robotics Club’s robots during an after-school practice (left) as the club’s 3D printer creates new parts its members use to augment their bots (right). After placing 20th of 26 teams in a November competition, the club’s members have committed themselves to practicing more and improving their control of their robots, which they hope will come in handy when they face the best teams in Northern California during a regional tournament Feb. 8. Since it formed last year, the club has made large strides in terms of both membership and competitive success. goals, and also try to score in a 4-foot-tall goal in the center and move the rolling goals onto a ramp to score additional points. Judges also critique each team on their engineering notebook, which includes sketches and printouts of their designs, and grant awards for different categories based on what they see in them and in the arena. The more awards a team has, the better chance they have of winning the competition as a whole. The competition is run through the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). Carlson, a junior, attributes much of team’s current success to a less-than-stellar performance

in a competition earlier this year. On Nov. 4, the club finished 20th of 26 teams in a competition at Saratoga High School – mostly due to mechanical issues, Carlson said – which drove them to restructure their practices and practice schedule. “We learned a lot and gained a lot of experience from that tournament,” Carlson said. “If we didn’t go there, we would’ve had the same problems at Oak Ridge.” Robotics Club still managed to advance to Oak Ridge High School’s January qualifying tournament. Though they eventually ended the tournament successful, the journey wasn’t without a

FASHION COLUMN

Connor DuRoy suits up for school by MICHELLE IM

m.im@eyeofthetigernews.com

How would you describe your style? I’d say formal or slightly classy. I don’t know. What do you mean by formal? Suit and tie formal? By formal, I mean I prefer to have like a suit and tie on but that’s not always normal at high school. Do you think other people should dress formally at school? Like as in for a working environment. I do consider a school a working environment for a student, but I don’t feel as though they should have to dress a certain way. I feel like people should be able to dress however they want. How do you feel when you dress snazzy? The usual confident vibe or? Oh, snazzy is a good word. I dont know. I don’t feel much different. I just prefer to dress the way I do. Do you have any key pieces you like or wear often to complete your look? Suit and tie and? I have a peacoat that I really like. I’m not wearing it now of course. I don’t know; it just looks nice in my opinion. Thick coats for the winters. Where do you usually buy your clothes? Normally, I’ll get them all online because I’m a freakishly lengthy, weird kid, and I can only find clothes online but occasionally, I can find some at the mall. And where do you usually shop online? Like random anywhere where I can find clothes. I go on the Macy’s store sometimes. And what do you think is a good budget to spend on clothes? Especially because

formal clothes are usually more expensive. Personally, I don’t like to spend more than $50 on button-up shirt and tie, but this type of clothing is fairly expensive so that’s not always reasonable. Do you remember where you got what you’re wearing now? The tie was a gift for Christmas, so I don’t know where they got it from and same with the jacket, but the undershirt is from Macys. The sweater was from Lands’ End. What would you recommend to students who are looking to dress like you do and dress up a little bit during school and who are nervous about coming to school in a suit and tie? Well what helped me is that I got a group of friends to like do this event with me. It’s called Fancy Fridays. We would just plan a day to dress up and we did. So it worked. Oh. Did you make Fancy Fridays? That thing. That trend. No. I believe [junior] Thomas [Nguyen] did. There’s this other kid at this school - I don’t know his name - he claims that he did it, but...I think Thomas did. I don’t know. Do you do Fancy Friday every Friday? Or on a specific Fri-

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Junior Connor DuRoy wears a button-up-shirt and tie under a sweater. He tops off his look with black shoes, jeans and a leather jacket. day? On a special Friday? I try to do every Friday. I can’t as much in the summertime because it gets too hot to wear a tie. I strive to do it every Friday. How do you think you’ll transition from winter to spring? I’ll probably still wear a buttonup shirt and tie then just because I really enjoy wearing it. It’s too hot for a sweater, though.

pretty major bump. “Our hook broke down,” junior Zaid Al-Rakabi said. “If we didn’t get the hook working, we wouldn’t have scored any points. We had to get a timeout. We just took apart the motor and put in a new one and calibrated it into all the programming. Kevin did all the programming under five minutes and then we were back out there and competing again.” The team will next compete in the NorCal regional tournament Feb. 8, where they will face the best teams in Northern California. Between now and then, the team will dedicate the majority of their practice time on refining their driving and their engineer-

ing journal. “We will be focusing on getting our anatomists down and getting it consistent,” Carlson said. “We were pretty consistent at our last tournament, but we still have some work to do.” Robotics Club’s ultimate goal is to earn a spot in the West Super-Regional tournament, which will take place in Oakland in March and will include the best teams west of Wyoming. The team will have to place well at the February tournament to make it there, though. “I think a lot of hard work and working at the school and refining their robot [will help the members prepare],” adviser John

Fuller said. “We have our arena, which’s much like the arenas used in the tournament – which we didn’t have last year – so we are actually practicing our maneuvers.” Future plans for the club also include reaching out into the community and giving back. Carlson said the club plans to begin visiting elementary schools, including nearby Spanger, in March to introduce them to the world of robotics. “We would like to … maybe go down once a week after school to the Adventure Club and introduce them to Lego motors and gears and technical stuff like that,” Carlson said.

Opinion

january 26, 2015

page 7

EYE OF THE TIGER’S VIEW

Beyond the gaps

oseville High School has issues far bigger than the participation gaps in its AP program. The Monday before we returned from break, administrators presented the results of the student- and staff-wide survey RHS took in September during a “welcome back” staff meeting. The survey was the first step of a district-wide partnership with Equal Opportunity Schools, a non-profit that works to ensure equity of AP (and IB) participation across socioeconomic and racial demographics. It mostly asked students questions about why they do (or don’t) take AP, what they know about the program and how they feel about their place on campus. Teacher questions were also tailored toward assessing student motivation, as well as identifying indicators of potential success. Though the data from the survey did reveal some interesting things about RHS’ AP program – including exactly how and where it fails to achieve equity, which will be helpful as the school moves to expand access to the program – it also revealed this

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

far more unsettling truth: Nearly two-thirds of RHS students don’t feel challenged in their classes. According to the EOS data, 63 percent of “benchmark students” (sophomores and juniors who are either white or Asian and come from mid-to-high income backgrounds) and 68 percent of “underrepresented students” (sophomores and juniors who aren’t and don’t) indicated such on the sur-

vey they took in September. This is a huge number of students. The EOS data doesn’t include a breakdown of exactly how many fell into each category, but the percentages suffice to say that the overall number of unchallenged students is enormous. We are talking about hundreds of students. Expand the groups to include freshmen and seniors, and, with RHS’ population hover-

ing around 2,000, we can expect we’re looking at roughly 1,300 of us who don’t feel challenged by our schoolwork. This number is so large that we are left only with the option of questioning it. How is it that more than half of RHS leaves school each day without feeling challenged – without feeling like they’ve stretched or grown or really learned in some way?

An EOS representative was unable to provide the exact syntax of the question as it appeared before students, but the figures here are so high that it seems almost irrelevant. That so many – SO MANY – of us felt the best answer to a question asking us to indicate whether or not we are challenged in class was “no” is alarming. We cannot claim to really be receiving an education if we aren’t growing from it. That’s what school is supposed to do – to make us grow and stretch and think and learn. That gaps continue to exist in RHS’ AP program is disappointing. All students should be able to take AP courses if they want to, regardless of how much money their parents make or where their ancestors came from. However, compared to the larger issue of RHS students who do feel challenged by their coursework somehow being in the minority, it’s almost entirely insignificant. It doesn’t matter how many students we have in AP if no one’s actually stretching themselves. (This article represents the views of the 2014-15 editorial board.)

AP classes do little to ensure student test success

PA bumps, college credit, and better looking choices. We all know the reasons we take Advanced Placement classes, but how effective are they here at Roseville High School? It seems that recently both the pros and cons of AP classes and the true quality have come to light. In this past term many negative aspects have been brought up with a student uprising in one of RHS’ AP classes. Students complained of a disorganized class with few assignments in the grade book, no tests and a limited feeling of actually learning anything. When the tests came around, they felt they weren’t sufficiently prepared and had to learn most information themselves. Some students went and talked to advisers about the class, while others even tried to create a petition rebelling against the grading. While in some cases busy work and at-home learning can lead to a better understanding, not all students are capable of teaching themselves all the necessary information. In other classes, it seems more subtle cases of limited understanding came about. Students

BY EVE HILL

e.hill@eyeofthetigernews.com

would pay attention in class, do their homework and ask questions when it came to anything they didn’t understand, but on test day they still found themselves floundering with disbelief and the questions they were sure they had never learned about in their lives. Is this a fault of the students for not knowing what they got themselves into when they signed up for the class, and therefore were unprepared? Or does this seem to fall on the shoulders of the teachers, who didn’t teach to the specifics of the tests they’re giving out? There is no definite answer or solution. From personal experience taking some of these classes, I’ve felt unprepared for many tests. I’m a student who takes comfort in feeling prepared and ready, and I can honestly say that in particu-

lar classes I’ve studied and even made flash cards with all the information given and still ended up staring blankly at questions and words I know for a fact we never learned. To me, this is not acceptable. We take these classes to prepare for and better our futures, not to be discouraged and confused. Leaving classes disappointed without sufficiently learning information can hurt not only our transcripts, but our AP test-taking abilities, leading to even possibly damaged futures. We are often encouraged to push ourselves and take the AP classes, but it isn’t always the best choice for every student. Tests are usually very different than the practice and notes from class, leaving students overwhelmed and frustrated when they can’t pass tests – which comprise the majority of their grade. AP classes aren’t for everyone, and I don’t think everyone needs to be pushed into a class where the teaching style and information taught don’t match up with the skills students need to pass the class. Some interactive learners got in over their heads signing up for

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

classes with constant note taking and lectures. There is no room for them to be taught their way, with the four-by-four schedule limiting time, so they can’t sufficiently be taught every single aspect of the course pertaining to every learning style. Teachers often complain about the setbacks caused by this stunted schedule and end up doubling ideas or chapters into one test, or only allowing limited time to learn complicated information. Then, when students don’t do as well as they would’ve hoped, the syllabus is dusted off and brought

back out from hiding, stating in bolded words there is a no retake policy and all hope is lost. If students aren’t given adequate materials and time to study, there’s no surprise that they didn’t do exceptionally well on the test. When teachers do not allow for make-up points through retakes or test corrections, it’s only hindering students from grasping those topics in the end and remembering them correctly. Now, this isn’t the case for every AP class at RHS, but more and more cases of students feeling they’re not getting what they

signed up for are coming about. It hasn’t always been like this, at least as far as I know. I don’t know if it’s a result of teachers getting tired of teaching the same subject for so long, students being lazy and expecting to not be challenged, or both, or anything else, but it cannot continue. Students should feel challenged, but not hopeless. Engaged, but not overwhelmed. These AP classes aim to prepare students for college and more difficult learning demands, but it’s almost impossible to pass such a class when you aren’t provided with the resources to study, to push yourself to learn more outside class. Is this just a trend of complaints or is there a deeper-rooted problem with the quality of AP classes at RHS? AP classes need some renovation to accommodate students that really do want to learn and succeed, but can’t when those are contradicting. I think we need to make some changes, including but not limited to teaching to the actual tests taken in class, giving better and less expansive and unsure study materials, and reevaluating test retake policies.

EOS’ goal is noble – more diverse classes are better classes

qual Opportunity Schools is sharing a plan with approximately 70 schools this 2014-15 school year to implement several strategies to identify the underrepresented students and encourage them to enroll in Advanced Placement classes. A few of these strategies devised by the EOS include informational nights for parents and students, oneon-one encouragement between teachers and students identified as ‘untapped potential,’ and an environment that nurtures a “growth mindset,” which is defined by EOS as “the belief that the most basic abilities – including intelligence – grow with dedication and hard work.” I grew up with two older sisters, both who attended Roseville High School. They talked often about their AP classes and I was

BY HALEY GUARDINO

h.guardino@eyeofthetigernews.com

looking forward to taking classes that challenged rather than bored me. The thought never occurred to me that there may be students who didn’t feel they were allowed to take AP classes or didn’t even know what an AP class was. As I learned more about the students who seemed capable of taking an AP class but didn’t, I realized just how prevalent the issue was at RHS. I began taking AP classes as

soon as I could, starting with the AP European History course sophomore year. I’ll be finishing out my senior year with six Advanced Placement classes under my belt and there is no competition for the one that was the most gripping. I took AP Government the fall term of this year. Our class was filled with 32 senior students, many I had never met before, others I had known for the past four years. Our class was one of the most diverse of all my prior AP classes and my teacher was incredibly talented at allowing class discussion to run its course without much interruption. The variety of cultures, backgrounds and experiences in our class added a dimension to my learning environment that I had never experienced before.

The Roseville Joint Union High School District’s desire to include more students in AP courses goes hand in hand with an equally noble goal to enrich the AP experience for all students. When students can understand the ideas of students with different backgrounds than their own, they are able to take more from the class than they ever would if they were surrounded by their identicals. Included in the plan laid out by EOS are several good ideas that have the capability of making the intended difference. There are other strategies directed more toward the students’ interest that could be effective as well. In my experience, I’ve heard too much about the “Challenge yourself with AP!” when benefits such as the weighted grade point and the reduction of college course load

in your future are ignored. Introducing AP classes at High School on the Hill and other events where prospective RHS students get a glimpse into the life of a high schooler are also great venues to advertise these classes to both parents and students and to reiterate the benefits. According to EOS, 12 percent of students don’t know what an AP class is. How do we expect underrepresented students to participate in advanced classes when they have no resources to learn about them? A bad experience in a student’s first AP class can cause them to stick to the basics from then on, so it’s important that AP teachers make their students feel comfortable and accommodated. I have often been in my AP class feeling lost and helpless. When teachers conduct the class in a way that

signifies students should have prior knowledge on the subject of the course, it becomes overwhelming, and students who have not been exposed to the subject can feel destined for failure. To a certain degree, a higher standard for an AP student’s self-teaching ability, self-motivation and time commitment is necessary, but teachers can take it too far at times, leaving students again with the hopeless feeling. RHS is achieving great things with the academic success of its students. The recognition and effort to fix a problem in the system is admirable, and the strategies devised by EOS seem to be well thought out and hopefully will be effective in closing the gap between the benchmark and underrepresented students in AP classes.

opinion | page 8

january 26, 2015

Welcome Back Rally day falls on tired ears

Berry St. needs fix for crosswalk chaos

he journey from the Berry Street parking lot to the the gates of Roseville High School is dangerous. Those who wish to take the walk must cross a crowded Berry Street and maneuver their way through the busy parking lot in front of Independence High School. I find the 15 minutes before school starts to be the most chaotic time on Berry Street. Every morning parents and students who are running late speed down the street. Many drivers even make illegal U-turns just before the crosswalk. However, it is impossible to put the blame on any few drivers because most people with relation to RHS know at least one person who has done one of these things near campus. Although there are radars on either side of the cross walk monitoring the speed of cars and warning them to slow down, many drivers only slow for a brief time before they speed up again. As these cars approach the crosswalk they have to press on their brakes to allow students to cross. Students are not very visible walking out of the parking lot and cars don’t have enough time to realize the stop since there is nothing but a hidden yield sign to keep them from speeding on through. More often than not, students will have to wait at the crosswalk for a car to be nice enough to obey the yield sign and let them cross. Often times there will be one car who stops to allow students to cross the street while another will roll straight through. I have walked across the crosswalk only to find myself stopping in the middle of the street to allow a drivers to pass through. Don’t pedestrians have the right of way? At least that is what I learned in my driving course. What concerns me the most is that many students are distracted when crossing the street. Whether it be texting or chatting with a friend, many kids automatically assume that cars will stop for them. Unfortunately that is not the case.

BY CATHERINE BARBER c.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

One time I was walking across the crosswalk as a driver made an illegal U-turn just past the crosswalk. As they turned around they had little time to react to the group of kids walking across the street. The driver slammed on their breaks and offered an apologetic wave as if to make up for the fact that they almost ran me over. Perhaps the issue comes from the fact that the crosswalk is not clearly marked. Yes, there is a sign indicating a crosswalk, but the crosswalk itself is lacking. Currently there are two horizontal orange lines outlining the place to walk. I think it would help to make them brighter and add diagonal lines to make the pathway more visible to drivers. Another solution could be placing an adult at the crosswalk before and after school for 15 minutes to direct traffic and make sure kids cross safely. To avoid hiring an additional employee to to the job, RHS could place one of the campus monitors at the position to oversee the flow of traffic. Or, even easier, the school could implement a stop sign at the crosswalk so cars feel obliged to stop and allow pedestrians to cross the street and get to school. Maybe have some enforcement on the speed radar that guards the middle of Berry Street. It’s too easy for cars to speed up again once they pass it and come close to pedestrians. Drivers and students need to be aware of one another in order to avoid future accidents. Students need to pay attention to the road and not be distracted. Most importantly, drivers need to turn around in legal areas and stop to allow students to cross the street safely.

t is the first day back to school after break and you can barely gain the energy to open the door to the gym. When you eventually do, you walk in to see many tired faces of kids who do not want to be there. You sit through a pointless rally to get everyone excited, but it does not really work. Then we all file out of the gym like wild cattle being herded and we are off to get our schedules that we have an hour to do. We all then pile into the cafeteria by squeezing through the doors because there is no organization. Finally, we receive our schedules and now have half an hour to stand in the cold until first period starts. When class starts, the periods are so short that most teachers do not bother to do anything. You sit there and listen to the teacher talk about random classroom things that kids already know. We have tests at the end of each unit – great. Homework is due at the start of the period – awesome. We can eat in class – even better. In conclusion, it is a complete waste of your day. As a student here at Roseville High School, you are forced to go through this unnecessary first-day ritual that the administration has created. It is a complete waste

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

BY NICK SAPP

n.sapp@eyeofthetigernews.com

of time for the students. It is the first day back and kids just want to get through their day and not deal with unnecessary humps in the road. The system also proves to have many flaws in it. There are many

students who have first period off so they have to come get their schedule and end up with an extra hour to sit around and do nothing, or even just go home during that time. It leaves students stranded and confused about what to do or where to go. Now, because of the setup, you have a bunch of seniors wandering the school, which we all know can lead to seniors getting in trouble. Another problem this system creates is students skipping school. Many students have the outlook that, “Well, we are not going to do anything at school, so

why go?” Also, many students just leave after they get their schedule. This system gives students a reason to not attend school, which – I hope – is opposite of the administration’s goal. I remember a time where I could show up on the first day of the term and get my schedule easily and make it through my day with no annoying interruptions. Let’s go back to the simpler days when it was uncomplicated and stress-free, and let’s cut the new first day plan. It is time to fix the new changes we have made that don’t have the desired effect.

Teachers should pay mind to comments, setting

oseville High School has some of the most engaging, intelligent and caring teachers on a high school campus. I feel comfortable knowing I can go to my teachers for help or simply have a casual conversation with one of my former educators. But between chatting with friends and reflecting upon my own experiences during class time, I’ve become aware of the impact of a teacher’s words to his or her students. I vividly remember times in which my teachers have made commentary on the current status of our government or why the president should or shouldn’t be in charge. I could understand how this might entertain and appeal to the section of the class that agreed with our teacher’s political views, but I couldn’t help but feel heated about the lack of discretion and appropriate timing when speaking on such a controversial topic. A high school classroom isn’t the setting to explore conversations that involve delving into touchy subjects, unless students are to participate in a socratic seminar in which they can voice

BY SOPHIA MOGANNAM

s.mogannam@eyeofthetigernews.com

their ideas as well. Many of my teachers have suggested that sharing their political beliefs is equivalent to discussing something such as their love lives. So, making passive jokes on controversial topics is enough to force me to see them in a different light. Ideology aside, however, to what extent are we students supposed to trust in the information being given to us after the bias of our teachers has been imposed on us? Understandably, teachers are humans, which entails that they have opinions on a multitude of subjects, just as students do. It is also inevitable for the occasional slip-up of a curse word or passionate comment to come up. But as students are given punish-

ments for engaging in obscene language and behavior, teachers should take it upon themselves to be exemplary figures of the rules students are expected to follow. I’m old enough to know by now what is appropriate or inappropriate to say around various groups of people, so I don’t feel I’ll be influenced by my teachers’ negative words. But something about hearing vocabulary like “slutty,” the fbomb or any other variety of fourletter word amid a lesson somehow detracts from my ability to concentrate on learning. Not to mention, my teacher loses a few maturity points, in my opinion. Along the same lines, a high school staff member should mind his or her humor and take caution when speaking of things unrelated to school subjects, due to awkward TMI moments that can make students blush with discomfort. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to be constant around our campus. But even the profanity in Health and Safety can corrupt the ears of an innocent freshman. That would be a little dramatic, of course. However, I do know that it

is transition enough to be exposed to the concept of sex in itself, let alone the “hip” terms that “all the kids are using nowadays” coming from the mouths of our instructors, who may significantly differ in age. I don’t desire to learn about my teachers’ affinities toward the opposite gender and how they make or may not affect their happiness levels. I’m not a staff member and therefore I don’t know what topics get covered at staff meetings. But I have a feeling that reminding teachers to be aware of what they say to students is not the center of conversation. So, this serves as a reminder to all of our amazing teachers that what you say holds more significance than you may realize. Students ultimately remember how they feel about their teachers based off of poise and good character. And let’s be real, the coolest educators are those who don’t need to try to be “cool,” but rather show kindness, hold unbiased discussions, don’t engage in teen behavior in an attempt to be relatable, and simply show students their true selves.

All voices matter in class – not just those of the ‘smart kids’

uick – think of the smartest person or people you know in your class. Chances are, if asked, the vast majority of your other classmates all said the same person or couple of people. When you think about it, these people are famed and known for being, well, smart. They come in a wide variety, too! Math, English, foreign language, philosophy. While there is no doubt that these people are undoubtedly intelligent, I have noticed in my just-shy-of-four years in high school that these people are completely idolized. In a weird way. Last term, I was enrolled in AP Literature and Composition – a class where we were expected to read novels and poems and analyze what the author “had really meant to say,” as well as “what the author was trying to say about life and living.” This required the coveted skill of reading between the lines and then, of course, being able to actually articulate what exactly you read between the lines, which sometimes can be hard. I distinctly remember hearing one of my classmates articu-

BY SEIÉNNA PAPINI

s.papini@eyeofthetigernews.com

late an element of symbolism he had seen in the current novella we had been reading. While it was, undoubtedly, an articulate and insightful comment, I would never have expected the class to respond in a chorus of loud cheers and applause for the student. But they did. I was not only caught offguard by the standing ovation, but I was also bewildered as to why this student received respect and everyone’s ears when he talked and when I spoke, I had to wait anywhere from 10 to 15 seconds for the class to finish up their side conversations and deem me relatively interesting to listen to. I came to the conclusion that this is the kind of respect (minus the applause and standing ovation) you receive when you are

known for simply being smart – which is ironic because this is the kind of respect anyone deserves when they speak. School is supposed to be a place where students feel safe – be it physically, mentally, emotionally, what have you. But when there comes a point in the classroom environment when students no longer feel respected enough to be able to speak a few words, I take issue. I think it’s fantastic that students and teachers value the perspectives of these “smart people” enough to stand, clap and cheer, but shouldn’t all students be entitled to at least half that level of respect? Beyond that, the people who actually do receive the recognition are often the students that don’t speak up too often. This lack of frequent participation is usually due to a feeling of discomfort from attention. While I maintain that students deserve to be heard and respected when they speak, a complete standing ovation may be a bit overboard – especially for those that are trying to avoid the spotlight to begin with. It’s like when you sing “Happy Birthday” as a group and the birthday person

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

doesn’t know what the heck to do. Cheering for literary analysis is basically the same thing. Teachers too, fall under this trap of student idolization. When teachers announce to the class that they’ll never be able to write as well right off the bat as someone else in the class, it automatically knocks them all down a few confidence levels. Aren’t teachers supposed to be encouraging their students to succeed, no matter what level they start at? The stu-

dent called out for being “amazing” is embarrassed and the rest of the class feels inferior. This imposed inferiority complex stifles classroom participation and discourages students from sharing their opinion aloud for fear that their contribution will be met with blank stares and silence instead of a round of applause. I can’t comprehend why some people are apparently so much more deserving of accolades for speaking than others

– nor how, why or who gets to decide exactly who “is” so much more deserving – but this idolization of the few is really just detrimental to the classroom as a whole. I propose that we treat everyone in class with respect and open ears, without embarrassing people with obnoxious cheers and applause. Differentiating students and idolizing a select few disrupts participation and makes other students feel inferior.

january 26, 2015

Entertainment

A relevant reminder

Selma brings to life King’s personal, political struggles BY MARC CHAPPELLE

m.chappelle@eyeofthetigernews.com

Martin Luther King Jr., immortalized by history, now returns to the screen at the hands of director Ava DuVernay. Paramount Pictures tasked DuVernay with covering the powerful and far-reaching African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s, and she does so with incredible ease, painting a portrait of this important, complex historical period through new docudrama, Selma. It would have been simple for her to reiterate a history textbook and run through the timeline of the movement, but instead, she focuses solely on King’s (David Oyelowo) marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. DuVernay’s restraint pays off in Selma, as she successfully captures the message behind the civil rights movement and the personal life of King with

purpose. Selma doesn’t paint King’s political fight in black and white, thankfully. This isn’t just a good guy versus bad buy situation; the civil rights movement was full of gray area. President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) isn’t made out to be an evil racist (regardless of what his beliefs actually were), but a political figure on the same grounds as King. He pushes an agenda that, for the purpose of plot, offers up appropriate opposition to King. Johnson gives King proper grounds upon which he can push his movement further (however frustrating Johnson may be), and for that, Lyndon is a valuable character – and real life figure. Selma doesn’t cover the civil rights movement at a shallow level – it focuses on a narrow portion of the it and dives deep. As an audience, we venture into the mind of King and his

home life with Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo). This aspect, somewhat surprisingly, is as significant to Selma as the historical march itself. DuVernay not only explores the movement as it appeared to the public, but as it unfolded from within – from King, his family, and those close to him. The scenes of this more private arc are particularly powerful. I was on edge while Coretta dealt with King’s (historically documented) infidelity. King isn’t a perfect man and neither is his marriage, regardless of his public achievements. These moments were raw, and they brought something of global importance down to a relatable, domestic level. Even though King is a legendary figure, Oyelowo’s portrayal was distinctly human; he feels embarrassed at the thought of his buddies seeing him wear an ascot. The minutiae

of King’s life translates to something much bigger than himself during Selma, and this mastery of scale carries critical emotional weight that DuVernay could’ve easily overlooked. Watching racist county police officers beat peaceful protesters scrambling off the Edmund Pettus Bridge wasn’t an easy sight to take in. The brutality was alarming, but undeniably telling of King and his associates’ approach, driving home the importance of peaceful defiance and persistence in the face of injustice. DuVernay doesn’t need to roll out the whole timeline of King’s campaign to encapsulate the civil rights movement – she only needs strong cinematic technique, a well-crafted soundtrack, an invested cast, and again, laudable restraint to pull it off. Admittedly, I wanted more from the cast. Not in their acting, not in their costume design, not

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COURTESY ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/PARAMOUNT PICTURES

In Selma, director Ava DuVernay explores both the public and personal sides of Martin Luther King Jr. and his campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement. in their commitment, but in their sheer screentime. Each historical figure carried weight and significance, so I couldn’t help wanting to see more of each individual story. It’s not the fault of DuVernay, her production team, or the cast itself, only the nature of the medium. Movies can only run for so long – DuVernay made the best of her opportunity here. Strong activist characters, ranging from James Bevel (rapper-turned-actor Common) and Annie Lee Cooper (producer Oprah Winfrey), to quiet strategist Diane Nash (the similarly charged Dear White People’s Tessa Thompson) are who flesh out Selma and make it stand on its own as simply a strong film, not just a culturally significant one. Masterfully done, Selma doesn’t try to overwhelm with historical content or white-guilt. It avoids idolizing King, instead

translating him to screen as a human being pursuing the same goals and suffering the same mistakes as his colleagues. Pulling moviegoers back into the past with well-executed cinematography and acting, it successfully exists on its own. It adapts the extensive African-American Civil Rights Movement into a film replete with all the necessary elements for excellence beyond its pertinent source material. Despite being a window into the past, Selma feels hauntingly like the present. Civil rights incidents involving Post-Katrina Louisiana, Florida’s Trayvon Martin, Missouri’s Michael Brown and New York’s Eric Garner all harken back to the history behind Selma. It’s scary how relevant Selma’s message feels today, and it serves as a dark reminder of how our purportedly progressive modern society still takes critical missteps.

Wedding Ringer comedy with heart

BY RACHEL BARBER

r.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES/TNS

The poignant American Sniper considers the significant effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on Texan military sniper Chris Kyle to great effect.

Sniper peers into psyche of soldier BY DEVIN ORR

d.orr@eyeofthetigernews.com

American Sniper is based on Texan native Chris Kyle’s autobiography, “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History”. The movie follows Kyle’s four tours in Iraq as well as his life before and after his time in the military. The movie tackles more than just the conflict in the middle east; the film heavily emphasizes the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Entertaining is not an appropriate description for American Sniper. With the movie constantly tackling the issues of PTSD and true horrific images of war, this is a work meant to honor our soldiers’ sacrifices. It’s important to remember that the people who die in these film truly did die. They lost their lives

defending our country. It is no war propaganda. It’s a movie demanding respect for the people they depict. In several instances, the film contrasts the stressful war zone to our civilian society. What these scenes truly symbolize is the lost nature of soldiers when they come home. Kyle isn’t the same after his first tour and you get to watch his progression or in this case, degression through every time he goes back to war. As someone who knows a PTSD sufferer personally, these scenes were very poignant as it was a brutal depiction of the illness. Kyle’s family is divided because of his personal drive to keep fighting, even when he’s not fit. Emphasis on family dynamics and sacrifices appeals strongly to the pathos of moviegoers. Bradley Cooper pulls off a

truly impressive performance as Chris Kyle. He bears a very persuasive Texan accent that he maintains faithfully throughout the film’s two hour and 12 minute run time. Along with this, he bulked up for the role (really bulked up, like 40 pounds of muscle, bulked up). Cooper, from an accuracy standpoint, is truly similar to Kyle, making the film feel even more realistic. He was really able to strike the right chords during each scene, making each one more meaningful. His most memorable performance comes when he tries to return to society. Cooper manages to detach himself from his environment through body language, not just dialogue. Any modern war movie is going to be hit with some harsh criticism. But to most people and to me, this movie is a must

watch. There is so much emotion packed into a short two hours that I still get chills when commercials run. The audience connects easily with Chris Kyle and his remarkable story through strong character development. Not only is it emotional, but also intense. I was on the edge of my seat every time Kyle scoped out an enemy to pulling the trigger. A reasonable criticism of the American Sniper is that the film comes off as just plain black and white. There is no gray area that forces the audience to see what they want to. It doesn’t question why we went to Iraq. But these questions are not meant for this movie. Clint Eastwood directed this film to honor Chris Kyle’s life, not judge it. This man saved countless lives and is a hero to millions of people – and will always be remembered as one.

For a movie with wedding in the title, it is surprising how far off from a chick-flick The Wedding Ringer is. The movie depicts Doug Harris (Josh Gad) as an endearing fiancé with a difficult issue: he is getting married in ten days, left with no groomsmen. He soon discovers Jimmy Callahan (Kevin Hart), the head of Best Man Inc., a company that provides “best man services” for antisocial grooms. The comedy, although filled with R-rated humor, proves to have heart and an underlying message. In the 21st century, “friends” are more prominent than ever. We receive status updates and messages about their lives so that we are always in the know. However, this movie makes you question, out of your follower count and friends list, how many would actually attend your wedding? How many would jump at the chance? I must say that the set design is quite impressive. The director and crew showed off their cinematic capabilities by producing large-scale events within the movie’s 101 minutes. The bachelor party scene’s visually dazzling special effects and setting especially captivated me, particularly because Biggie Smalls played in the background (he always wins me over). The movie’s soundtrack was also surprisingly diverse, ranging

from “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker to “The Big Bang” by Rock Mafia. Kevin Hart builds his reputation upon his outlandish humor and crude comedy, however the movie doesn’t go overboard on those fronts. There still remained a few cracks and inappropriate remarks that were a little bit too immature for my liking. They could’ve used more sophisticated humor in some aspects. Regardless, I appreciate the comedy for what it is, because it did make me laugh out loud. In the end, The Wedding Ringer achieves a simple goal, for better or for worse: make the viewer laugh. To me, the movie is full of hits and misses. Certain scenes are random and don’t seem to belong with the rest of the plot, like a sporadic football game in the middle of the movie. The purpose of this scene is to highlight the fact that Harris doesn’t always meet the expectations of his fiancée Gretchen Palmer’s (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting) family. Josh Gad’s acting is incredible when it comes to this; he carries out the same mannerisms and personality traits while still growing in important ways. At its core, this movie is a sad one, so any substance is welcomed. The Wedding Ringer’s all-star cast and outstanding on-screen personalities bring the film to life and prove to be entertaining, despite any gripes with the nature of its comedy.

page 10 | entertainment

january 26, 2015

Shonda Rhimes orchestrates Thursday night empire Thank God It’s Thursday makes its midseason return this week. TV drama mogul Shonda Rhimes dominates the landscape with three culturally signficant shows: Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. Before tuning in, read up on the architect responsible for it all. BY DELPHINE KYUBWA d.kyubwa@eyeofthetigernews.com

Shonda Rhimes is the genius behind acclaimed ABC televison shows Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and the new How to Get Away with Murder. She has become a prominent figure in the TV drama landscape and her contributions are notable because there isn’t anything like them elsewhere. She has a talent for creating authentically complex and diverse characters that transcend stereotypes and veer away from conventionalism. Though women remain greatly underrepresented behind and on the scenes, Rhimes crafts worldly and intelligent female leads that millions are tuning in to see every Thursday night. Her artistry has rightfully earned her a back-to-back three hour block of programming. Rhimes’ contributions are enormous triumphs for television. The creation of Scandal resulted in the first black female lead in a network drama in almost 40 years, and How to Get Away with Murder has followed suit. Not only does Rhimes make history behind the scenes as a black female producer, she breaks barriers on screen as well. Her work Rhimes’ veteran show, Grey’s Anatomy, encompasses 11 seasons of life-or-death situations

that doctors face on a day-to-day basis. The show takes place in Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and features an engaging cast that grows with one another. The strong friendships formulated through the experiences of these characters makes this show different from Rhimes’ other dramas. Their closeness to one another is a prominent and touching element of the show. Grey’s Anatomy differs from other T.V dramas in it’s vast diversity of races, genders, as well as sexual orientations that manages to stray from the stereotypical tokens often found in other shows. I attribute its success to Rhimes’ ability to create such intricately contrasting characters, in more

aspects than one, that have such a strong bond and friendship one wouldn’t anticipate. The political thriller Scandal is in it’s fourth season and centers on Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), the head of her own crisis-management firm. The “scandalous” aspect of this show, Pope’s on and off affair with the President, makes it quite different from Rhimes’ others. The fast-paced political setting also contributes to this. Scandal moves more quickly than Grey’s Anatomy, which makes for a compelling and captivating storyline. The show differs from other dramas in it’s central depiction of interracial relationships and its polarizing lead that still manages

to be both strong and endearing. Pope is the most complex black female lead on primetime. The show finds widespread successful because her race doesn’t dictate her identity. Rhimes continues to craft colored characters that transcend the media’s popular expectations. How to Get Away with Murder revolves lawyer and professor Annalise Keating and her law students. A prominent aspect of this show is its use of flashbacks in order to add intrigue to episodic situations. Viewers constantly travel to different times and as a result, form predictions on who, among these people, is the true murderer. The irony of the show is the fact that the

very people learning the ins and outs of criminal justice are the ones committing crimes. These concepts make How to Get Away with Murder very different from her other shows and those of the wider television landscape. It’s unique storyline, diverse cast, and complex, intelligent black female lead are all responsible for the show’s reception and success. All three of her series embody similar television altering concepts and Rhimes achieves this in three completely different and captivating settings. She simultaneously proves that minority populations (especially women) are a daunting force on and off the camera while creating shows with national appeal.

Where we left off (spoilers below) Grey’s Anatomy left off with Derek’s (Patrick Dempsey) decision to move to Washington D.C to work for the president and the news that April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson’s (Jesse Williams) baby isn’t healthy. I’m sure that Jackson and April’s heartbreaking news will stress test their new relationship and require their reliance on friends for support. I’m anticipating a particularly tense relationship between Derek and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo). Cristina (Sandra Oh) reminds Meredith that the sun doesn’t revolve around Derek (Meredith being the sun). I hope this results in the self-validation and fulfillment she’s seeking in her work and that Meredith’s unhealthy sacrifice will come to an end. Scandal left off with the cliffhanger of Olivia’s disappearance. Based on the context of the situation, I’m guessing that the vice president intends to use Olivia as leverage in order to push his political agenda. I can’t fathom where they would keep her, but I predict that President Fitzgerald (Tony Goldwyn) and Jake Ballard (Scott Foley) will set aside their differences in their common struggle and Pope’s gladiators will stop at nothing in order to ensure Olivia’s safe return. How to Get Away with Murder left off with the unexpected cliffhanger of Annalise discovering her students involvement in her husband’s murder and her unsettling acceptance of this fact. I anticipate more twists and turns in relation to Annalise’s character and her students path toward incarceration. Trust (or the lack thereof) will be pivotal in coming episodes.

Confusing Blackhat does little to engage moviegoers BY GEORGE HUGHES

g.hughes@eyeofthetigernews.com

Chris Hemsworth stars as criminal hacker Nick Hathaway in the new movie Blackhat. Better known for his performances in Marvel’s Thor movies, Hemsworth struggles to electrify his audience in Blackhat the same way he does his enemies in Thor. The main problem with the movie is that it is very difficult for the audience to understand what is going on, given that viewers rarely have the technical expertise anywhere near a professional hacker’s. Even so, the complexity of the movie rivals that of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, which really says something. The film is so confusing, because for somebody to fully grasp its plot, they must be really comfortable with computer hacking, writing code and most importantly, watching both for a whole two hours. I am going to

take a wild guess here and say that the majority of people who go and see this movie, including myself, have absolutely no knowledge of either of these things. I wish them luck with having any sense of what is happening in the bulk of it. The premise of the story features a partnership between the United States and Chinese governments, trying to bring down an unknown super-hacker causing chaos around the world. With just a touch of a button on his keyboard, he can blow nuclear reactors to smithereens or send the value of soy stocks skyrocketing. At the beginning of the film, the American government releases criminal hacker Nick Hathaway to assist them using his unique skills. With the help of his friend Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang) and his sister Chen Lien (Wei Tang), Hathaway and his team travel all around the world

in attempts of finding their enemy, this mystery super-hacker. Tang’s acting as Chen Lien is very weak, and so is her relationship with Hathaway. It was difficult to understand her dialogue during some conversations, which took away from what was happening elsewhere in scenes because of the fact that I was straining my ears to focus solely on her voice. Her and Hathaway’s love story remains similarly disappointing and underdeveloped. It seemed like they had known one another before Hathaway was put into prison, but it was not clear. Either way, their rushed relationship only compounds the general confusion and gives little emotional weight. Lien’s brother, however, was not half as bad. Although he did not have as significant of an effect as he could have given his purported main character status, Wang’s performance as Ha-

COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Obscure hacking sequences paired with a poorly developed plotline muddy Blackhat’s overall appeal. thaway’s friend and partner was good. The word seems too simple to describe one’s role in a movie, but that is all that it was: not bad, not magnificent, just good. Director Michael Mann could have done a much better job with this movie, disappointing many, especially after the world felt the

full force of cyber-attacks with the widely known Sony Pictures hacks and its related events. Instead of capitalizing on this great opportunity to release a film amplifying the power and danger of hacking itself, Mann made it seem boring and inconsequential. The slow plotline, mediocre

acting and lack of excitement came together to create quite an underwhelming movie in the eyes of many. Although Hemsworth is known for his good acting, he, along with the WangTang duo, was not enough to cement Blackhat with the qualities of a great movie.

MICHELLE’S FOOD JOURNAL

Cute Nothing Bundt Cakes offerings make anyone feel special Each issue, senior Michelle Im will scout out the best local eateries. On the way, she finds the good, bad, and in-between of a particular dining scene. This issue’s target: Cupcakes.

Having a bad day? Well, any day with sweets is a good day (especially after a taxing exam), and if you need some good places to get some, well have I got some news for you: Go to Nothing Bundt Cakes. Everyone likes bundt cakes, and if you are of the faction that doesn’t, you are on my hit list (just kidding, please don’t report me). Those cute little bundlets can sway anyone’s heart, and to just feel special, I recently tried the extra special Chocolate Turtle Bundlet. Filled with sweet pecan nuts

BY MICHELLE IM

m.im@eyeofthetigernews.com

and a surprise filling of caramel, this bundlet really just takes the cake. The frosting is delicious as always, and caramel at the bottom of the bundlet mixed with the chocolate cake for extra effect and simple deliciousness. It’s perfect for these cold winter months. Cupcake a La Mode sounds French, so you can tell already that it tastes good. You just

know, and everyone also knows to get the Mama Mia cupcake. I could just make out a halo. The caffeinated goodness that makes up every teenager’s life is strong in this one, but I think everyone needs to try this flavor before they move on. The frosting, made to taste exactly like mocha with some extra side cream cheese frosting on top of vanilla fluffiness really perfected this cupcake. The extra cocoa

Chocolate Turtle Bundtlet ($4.49)

powder really is the true icing the yogurt station (not self-serve) located next to the cupcakes; on the cupcake for this I didn’t try the yogurt but reasonably large and I did try the Pink Chamexpensive treat (compagne cupcake, havpared to Icing on the ing been enticed by Cupcake’s offerits fancy name that ings – you get what shouldn’t have been you pay for). The such a deciding factor cupcake also leaned in my purchase (but it toward the more pricey was good enough reason side with a heftier price for me). The cupcake than your regular chocolooked decent, too, late or vanilla, but regardless of price, it Mama Mia ($3.50) with its baby pink icing and pink sugar pearls, but the was too good to pass up. icing proved overwhelming for Sorry to end on a sour (or a its very small size. The surprisbitter note, rather), but Smallingly strong alcoholic flavor was cakes disappoints in its selection. not balanced at all, and it left an The store sports a cute, very pink atmosphere, the shop reminded unpleasant taste in my mouth. I me of Cupcake a La Mode, but believe too strongly in my taste sadly there aren’t nearly as many buds to believe that the only good flavors. This may be due to culprit is the flavor selection:

the cupcake was just not good. Smallcakes offerings weren’t very satisfying or tasty, but they taught me a good lesson. Cakes are just plain good. Cupcakes are great, and those weird, almost magical cakes that people bake in ceramic mugs are also really amazing. In fact, all types of cake are magical. You just have to believe.

Pink Champagne ($3.00)

Sports

january 26, 2015

page 11

Smaller SOCCER: Move could bring resource issues sports matter, too CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Currently, six of the 10 CIF Sections in California play soccer exclusively in the winter. The fact that not all sections follow the same schedule prohibits creating any regional and state playoffs. Changing SJS’ soccer season to winter would allow those schools to participate in those competitions. Garrison notes that, although there are many issues that could arise because of the switch, there are also many benefits. One of these benefits would be that students might have fewer conflicts participating. For example, girls soccer currently conflicts with track and field, softball, and swimming. If it were in the spring, only basketball would conflict with soccer. “One of the biggest reasons for the switch is for more opportunities for kids participation-wise,” Garrison said. Currently, Roseville High School athletes must choose a single sport during the season. “What happens is my soccer players can’t run track and my soccer players can’t play softball,” JV girls soccer coach Paul Stewart. However, club soccer leagues often accommodate school soccer schedules in the fall, and with a possible season change this accommodation may change as well.

FILE PHOTO ROBBIE SHORT

SJS leadership will come to a decision on the potential season switch in April. Though proponents of the move to winter say it would create fewer conflicts with other sports for individual athletes, some have concerns about limitations brought by the season’s weather and limited field time. “I know some teams for club outside of high school specifically have a break set during the fall because of high school [soccer], so I’m not sure whether or not they’re able to change that,” sophomore JV player Landon Bones said. Another issue that may arise is whether or not all schools in section have the facilities to accommodate the switch. Many schools in the section do not have synthetic fields, which, according to Garrison, will withstand any extreme rain in the winter more than natu-

ral ground fields will. This creates the possibility that some school may not be able to play on water -soaked natural surfaces in fear of damaging the field. “I think that’s a huge issue,” Garrison said. “That’s one of the conversations they’re having to talk about because of those schools that do not have synthetic turf fields and have ground fields that can get torn up and can’t recover.” In addition, some schools would have to deal with snow covered fields.

When considering the move to the winter season, weather proves to be an important factor, according to JV boys coach Pablo Gutierrez. “The weather will be much better; summer weather is just too hot for a sport where you spend 100 percent running,” Gutierrez said. “The players will be more productive. Some players who suffer from asthma will be able to play more during cooler weather.” Coaching may also benefit from a winter soccer season.

“Coaching will be more relaxed because you don’t have to worry about heat dehydration,” Gutierrez said. Scheduling for game officials has the possibility to conflict if soccer switches to winter. “You could potentially have some issues with guys who are basketball and soccer officials because they might not be able to do them both,” Garrison said. “We’ve been assured by the officials that they could cover it if it did happen. Most of those things have been things that we have talked about and there’s pros and cons to each side. They can be covered – but will it stretch us?” A limited amount of sunlight during the winter will affect practice and game times, especially for schools without access to lights. “There [are] negatives to it to, you know, like facilities and the amount of light and the kids [possibly] being out of school early which is an issue,” Garrison said. Making a practice schedule could be a difficulty if the seasons move to winter. But Stewart thinks it can be worked out. “I think that it’s a better location but what’s now going to happen is that the boys [will have] two teams and the girls [will have] three teams. Five teams total will be competing for those two fields,” Stewart said. “But the basketball teams had to share two courts for their six teams.”

Wrestlers ready to push through final season meets BY GEORGE HUGHES

g.hughes@eyeofthetigernews.com

The Roseville High School wrestling team’s season is just two meets away from the postseason; their next meet against Ponderosa and their last against Cosumnes Oaks. Coach Doug Ash predicts that the team will finish somewhere in the middle of the Central Valley Conference standings, but he said it will all depend on how the team performs over the next couple of weeks as they wrap up their season. According to Ash, the Tigers will have to put on a great performance to bring down the undefeated Ponderosa High School Bruins. “Well, Ponderosa is going to be tough,” Ash said. “They are undefeated. They are one of the most premier programs in Sacramento

so it would take quite an evening for us to beat them.” Ash feels that the team has a good chance of beating Cosumnes Oaks, but the result will mainly rely on the health of the wrestlers. “If we wrestle well we should win that match, but again it comes down to health and grades and how people are feeling on certain days,” Ash said. “It’s such a grind as the season goes on, and we have a lot of kids at the varsity level right now that are kind of banged up, so hopefully they can get healed by then.” After the last two meets, the team will host the CVC League Championship Tournament at RHS on Feb. 14. Varsity wrestlers are then able to advance to the Divisional Tournament at Benecia High School on Feb. 20-21. If they do well enough there, they can move on to the Masters Tournament on

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Sophomore Hayden Simpson (above) has been one of the stand-outs on the varsity team this year. Feb. 27-28 and from there, possibly even the State Tournament on March 6-7. Junior wrestler Elijah Dustin believes that a lot of wrestlers will advance and perform well in the

postseason. “A lot of people are going to make it to the postseason,” Dustin said. “Probably most of the team. We performed well as a team and we had a lot of people, a lot of

freshmen, step up to try and fill the lower weight classes earlier in the season, so we will see how it works out.” According to coach Ash, senior wrestler Logan Ash and sophomore wrestler Hayden Simpson are the two wrestlers who have the best chances to advance the farthest in the postseason this year. “We have had some kids step up, Logan and Hayden have both really surprised me this year,” Ash said. “Both are winning at a really high rate and wrestling really, really well, better than I had anticipated. I think Logan and Hayden are wrestling at the highest level of anyone on the team right now.” The Tigers will next wrestle against Ponderosa this Wednesday, Jan. 28. They hope to beat the Bruins’ ongoing winning streak and tally a meet win for themselves.

Sports Shorts JV baseball field receives renovation BY LOGAN ASH

l.ash@eyeofthetigernews.com

With the spring sports season approaching, the JV baseball field underwent some renovations for the new year and league. According to head coach Lance Fischer, they added more dirt along with cutting in the lines on the base paths. Fischer also planned to pour concrete into the batting cages that surround the varsity baseball field, but his request to start construction was denied by the district due to contradiction with Title Nine laws, despite the fact that he possessed all the money needed to renovate the cages. The Title Nine laws limit what a baseball program can do because the softball program needs equal opportunity. Even though there were only

a few changes made to the field, senior Spencer Bracco took some ground balls over the weekend and noticed the improvements. “There is still bad hops but the field does look better,” Bracco said.

Grove steps away from volleyball BY MIKAYLA STEARNS

m.stearns@eyeofthetigernews.com

Former girls volleyball coach Ron Grove has moved onto new opportunities and focused on teaching following his retirement from sports. “I’m done with sports for, probably Grove the rest of my life,” Grove said. “I’m gonna keep teaching, but I’ve just stopped coaching.” Grove is using some of his

newfound free time to do volunteer work. “I volunteer to work at the Sacramento History Museum,” Grove said. “I want to do some more things with history, maybe work as a volunteer, maybe lead underground tours of Sac, and stuff like that.” According to Grove, teaching and coaching hold remarkable similarities and differences. “[Coaching] is a little better because all of the girls are a little more motivated, it’s a little more intense,” Grove said. “ But coaching can be teaching.” Surprise was the popular response from students and staff members to Grove’s announcement of retirement. “They were a little surprised because I’ve been doing it so long they’ve just gotten used to it,” Grove said. “I’ve been coaching here longer than some of these teachers have been alive.” Grove misses the close rela-

tionships he had built during his coaching career most of all. “I guess I miss the time with the girls and the relationships you form with the players,” Grove said. “And working with Mrs. Durham that was always nice too.”

JV boys step up in new roles BY CHASE BLATNICK

c.blatnick@eyeofthetigernews.com

Many of the players on Roseville High School JV boys basketball team are playing in more significant roles than they have in the past. This is because of six sophomores moving up to varsity, several key injuries and several players leaving the team, moving or transferring to other schools. Sophomore guard Jeffery Oh is the only player on the roster who routinely started games as a freshman and received substantial playing time in middle school.

Despite this relative lack of experience, however, the team boast sa 12-7 record and has been competitive in every game, never losing by more that 15 points. Head coach Bobby Ritter said the team’s strong performance is due to players improving, growing into their roles and strong team chemistry. League wins have been hard to come by, though.. The Tigers are currently 2-4, but they did open CVC play with a 57-51 overtime victory over Del Campo. However, starting center Cam Anderson went down with an ankle injury the next day at practice. Bennie Garcia was tapped to fill Anderson’s shoes as the team’s new starting center after Anderson found out that his ligament had been torn and his season ended by the injury the day after the Tigers played the Ponderosa Bruins. The team will next face the Oakmont Vikings on Wednesday.

BY LOGAN ASH

l.ash@eyeofthetigernews.com

With the vast amount of sports that Roseville offers, there are an insane amount of scheduling conflicts that occur – and time and time again the less prominent sport gets the short end of the stick. Maybe I am just sour that wrestling always has to move their schedule around to accommodate the apparently more important basketball teams, but then I realized that the boys soccer team has to practice on a field that has holes big enough to give an H1 Hummer a flat tire. Time and time again I see these less popular sports getting pushed aside in a bully-like fashion. For example, this year the wrestling team is hosting the annual league final meet for the Central Valley Conference (CVC) which is traditionally held on the Saturday before the postseason starts. However, the basketball team is hosting a game at Roseville on Friday night and a wrestling tournament takes hours upon hours to set up and organize, leaving the coaching staff the decision to either change the date or stay up until the early morning to set up and be dead tired for the most important tournament of the year. Due to these reasons, the coaching and administrative staff has decided to change the tournament to Thursday causing all of the wrestlers to miss a day of school that is not necessary to miss. For as long as I could remember the soccer teams have had to practice on the chewed up fields, risking broken ankles to practice the sport they love. Not only do they have to practice on the fields they have to play a majority of the games on the same field due to the turf field being occupied by either the football team or the track team. This is one of the bigger problems that we run into when discussing this topic. No, it does not make complete sense to share the fields with the football and soccer teams, but in reality how hard could it be to touch up some grass and make the soccer practice field presentable at the least? Cleaning up the field and touching up the grass would fix a number of problems, and ultimately present the soccer team with an equal opportunity to play on just as nice of a field as the praised football players. In addition, the JV baseball field is an embarrassment to our school to say the least. Just by walking down the third base line you are susceptible to a broken ankle from the potholes that are hidden by grass that is thicker than a rainforest. It is terrible that these young athletes have to endure two dreadful years on the dilapidated field risking a ball to the head due to a deadly hop. Not only do these fields cast an extremely negative connotation to our school to visiting teams, we risk injuries every day by practicing in these subpar facilities. However, I don’t understand why the football or track team cannot move practice to accommodate soccer’s schedule and allow the players to use our nicer facilities for the games. There seems to be a general knowledge that the more popular sports get more privilege leaving the other sports in the dark like the forgotten child.

Sports

page 12

january 26, 2015

Softball coach named Woodcreek coach Art Banks to take reins BY NICK ESPINO

n.espino@eyeofthetigernews.com

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

The varsity sophomores, including Tommy Edwards (left), and bench players, including senior Jesse Savage (right), have stepped up in the wake of major injuries to several of the Tigers’ key players (below).

Varsity Tigers power through injuries BY BRAD JAMES

b.james@eyeofthetigernews.com

Coming into the new season, Coach Granucci was immediately faced with a new challenge. After four starters and the majority of his non-starters who contributed significant minutes from the bench graduated, he had little varsity experience on the 20142015 roster. Resulting, he added six sophomores to the roster – leaving the team both young and inexperienced. Granucci, however, said he is fortunate, as the sophomores meshed well with the older players. They don’t consider them to be sophomores or juniors anymore but as varsity basketball players along with everyone else. “We knew we had a lot of young guys coming up who were inexperienced at this level, but they were all ready to play and work hard and that’s what we needed,” senior guard Bryce Crouch said. “I think the experi-

Sophomores, bench step up ence playing varsity will definitely help them out in the next couple of years.” In addition, the team is now dealing with two season ending injuries - a wrist injury to senior forward Zach Delgado and an ankle injury to Crouch - and a day-today back injury that kept starting center, senior Max Modeste, out of the Ponderosa game last Friday. Crouch, the only returning starter from last year’s team, initially injured his ankle in the 68-55 loss to Colfax on Jan. 3, then injured it again on Saturday Jan. 17 – this time tearing a ligament. Despite the initial injury, Crouch continued to play as the varsity squad suffered four more losses to Del Campo, Cosumnes Oaks, Antelope and Bella Vista High School, each time being outscored by more than 30 points set aside the 56-47 loss to Cosumnes Oaks.

“He is one of our best players, if not the best, we were all kind of upset with him going down,” senior Jesse Savage said. “People are just stepping up, someone has to score and make plays.” Savage, who transferred to RHS from Del Campo this year, was the one who stepped up in the first game without Crouch, as he put up 18 points in the matchup against Whitney last Wednesday. In last Friday’s 72-67 loss at Ponderosa, Savage contributed 19 more. Before the season started, returning varsity player Zach Delgado, faced with an injury to his arm. Delgado tore ligaments in his wrist bringing an early end to his senior season. “Losing Zach and Bryce, those are two senior leaders who have major varsity experience so it hurts, there’s no question about

it, but we have enough guys and enough talent on our team to still compete and hopefully win some games so we have to step up,” Granucci said. After the loss to Ponderosa last Friday, the team fell into a 0-6 record in league. Although the Tigers recieved their sixth league loss, this one differed in the aspect of how they played and what they were able to learn from the game. According to sophomore gaurd Brandon Del-Rosario, the team played well together and was relieved to compete for a sizable part of the game. “We finally competed for almost the whole game and even the players who usually dont recieve a lot of minutes put in work last night,” Del-Rosario said. Del- Rosario also noted the team is progressing and has built up a good amount of momentum for the upcoming game against the Oakmont Vikings on Wednes-

WHO’S OUT FOR THE SEASON

Forward Zach Delgado

Guard Bryce Crouch

DAY-TO-DAY

Center Max Modeste

Despite losses, Lady Tigers still chasing playoff spot McKay: “We have to work harder” BY LOGAN ASH

l.ash@eyeofthetigernews.com

As the varsity girl’s basketball team approaches the halfway point in their season, they are hoping to sneak into the playoffs by finishing in the top in the Central Valley Conference (CVC). According to head coach Josh Errecart, Antelope and Whitney will be able to secure the first two spots with ease while Bella Vista, Poderosa, Cosumnes Oaks and Roseville will battle it out for the final two spots to advance. After Friday’s loss to Ponderosa, the Lady Tigers are in seventh place in league at 1-5. However, they are just three games behind both Bella Vista and Ponderosa – who are currently tied for third. Entering into the CVC has brought many changes for the program. According to sophomore Shelbie McKay, coming into the CVC has created a much harder schedule for the team coming from the Sierra Foothill League. Errecart believes that the change into the CVC did not make it any easier on the Lady Tigers. “It’s a tough battle every night,” Errecart said. “We’re going to have to battle every night to secure the playoff spot.” Within the games that the team plays every night they compete, Errecart has seen a big mentality

change in each and every player. “We have begun this year with a new era of committing and working harder,” Errecart said. McKay is now a second year varsity starter and has noticed a distinct change in the team’s work ethic and effort from last year to this year. “We have to work harder this year to prove ourselves,” McKay said. According to Errecart, the team has competed in each of its first league games, and has given up in a quarter which put them too far behind to make up. For example, against Whitney last Tuesday the Lady Tigers gave up a 23 and 2 run in the second quarter digging themselves into a hole early in the game. “We can’t seem to score or stop teams for a quarter or a half at a time,” Errecart said. Following in the footsteps of the boys basketball team, Errecart has pulled up three sophomores onto the varsity team in an attempt to solidify their line up. He believes that their presence has helped them in many ways ,adding diversity to their lineup with McKay, Skyler Rubey and Izzy Bautista. According to Errecart, they are able to run a double point guard offense to be able to use McKay’s and Rubey’s potential. In addition,

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Though the Lady Tigers have struggled thus far in league and currently sit at seventh place in the CVC, the team, led by star sophomore Shelbie McKay (above), still aims to secure one of the final two spots left in the playoffs. they are able to use Bautista’s height to their advantage in the paint to get rebounds. “The sophomores have done a great job so far this year,” Errecart said. McKay leads the team in points-per-game, rebounds-pergame, blocks-per-game and steals-per-game, while Rubey leads the team in assists-perhame. “We need to outwork the other teams and play our hardest to get into playoffs,” McKay said.

In the loss to Ponderosa, the Lady igers lost by a score of 7138, and once again, Mckay led the way with 14 points in this contest. Despite the tough loss, the team felt that they communicated well enough to have a continuous streak of defense. “We moved the ball well and played we played for all 32 minutes without letting them go on a big run, which was something we’ve been meaning to work on,” McKay said. According to McKay, in order

to start winning and playing their best, the team needs to find ways to work on playing to their full potential the whole game and not take quarters off.

TO MAKE POSTSEASON  Make up 3 games on Bella Vista and Ponderosa  Win 7 of remaining 8 games *Based on current standings

After months of searching, the varsity girls softball team’s quest to find a new coach has come to an end. Last Thursday, during scheduled conditioning, Art Banks introduced himself to the players as the new coach for the team. According to three-year varsity junior Ally Manzo, the fact that the team now has a coach has relieved some of the players. “It’s really exciting that we finally have a coach, and it kinda lifts a weight off our shoulders, and it makes us more anxious for the season to start,” Manzo said. Banks is a well-known coach in the softball world and has been involved in this area for quite some time. Banks not only brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the girls on the team, but also carries many accomplishments of his own under his belt as well. According to his resumé, he has three section titles, one with Roseville (1990) and two with Woodcreek (2004 and 2005). Banks led the Woodcreek Softball team to an impressive four straight SFL championships from 2004-2008. During that time period, Cal-Hi Sports honored Banks by naming him Coach of the Year in 2005. Although Banks has a long list of accomplishments in the softball spectrum, his list of coaching experience ranges to other sports as well. Over the last 40 years, Banks coached six sports, which include football, wrestling, baseball, girls tennis, boys soccer, and softball. Banks’ long list of coachin gexperience allowed him to hold the role of both the assistant and head coaching positions throughout his coaching career. After meeting her coach, fouryear varsity senior Katie Edgar felt Banks will be able to lead them to a successful season this year. “He has always put out a competitive, winning team, so I’m sure he will push us hard while still having fun,” Edgar said. Following a championship season, the team looks to win another league championship once again, but this time in the CVC. “We all have a big goal of winning CVC and I know [Banks] would love that, as well as our assistant coach Tenaya,” Edgar said. The Lady Tigers will have a good amount of girls returning this season, and with that said, they are striving for nothing less than another league banner. According to Edgar, the team will be able to do so as long as they work to and become a better team as a whole not just as individuals. “The only way we’ll be able to complete that goals is by working hard each and everyday to become better players and a better tam all together,” Edgar said. Due to the popularity of Banks, and his involvement with the softball world in the sacramento area, many players on the team have seen him coach or played against him at some point. According to those who have seen him coach, he brings a lot to the table and can help them reach their season goals this year. “My freshman year he was Woodcreek’s coach,” Manzo said. “He helped them improve so much throughout the season and helped them go to playoffs, and I think he will be able to lead us there as well.”